InvestmentsA Victorian era property on Northumberland Road is for sale by private treaty through agent Davin Auctioneers & Chartered Surveyors for €5 million.
Number 58 Northumberland Road is steeped in history, and is infamous as the location where, on the death of Adolf Hitler, the then taoiseach Eamonn De Valera called to express his condolences to the German ambassador.
The large building is a two-storey over garden level end-terrace property, used until recently as the headquarters of Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Cultural Institute.
This is a hugely attractive building of 484sq m (5,210sq ft). The area to the front of the property is paved and can accommodate four cars. There is also a wide side access to a city garden and rear patio.
The historical connections arise as, during the second World War, number 58 was the headquarters of the German legation, or embassy, in Ireland.
It was to this house that De Valera called when Hitler's death was announced. De Valera's decision to attend the legation was controversial at the time.
He was aware of this, commenting: "I have noted that my call on the German minister on the announcement of Hitler's death was played up to the upmost. I expected this. I could have had a diplomatic illness but, as you know, I would scorn that sort of thing . . . so long as we retain our diplomatic relations with Germany, to have failed to call upon the German representative would have been an act of unpardonable discourtesy to the German nation."
Number 58 was also associated with war time intrigue. The story goes that locals noted how the flower pots placed on the legation's window sills came in for frequent, unexpected rearrangement.
The combinations and permutations based on these arrangements were a code system which Germans allegedly used for communicating with the Irish underground, if the story can be believed.
There is nothing controversial about the property today. Rather, it has been refurbished and upgraded by its owners and is offered for sale in pristine condition, the agent says.
A key part of its appeal is the huge potential it offers. It would make a prestigious family home, as Northumberland Road is close to schools, parks and the restaurants and amenities of nearby Ballsbridge. It would also provide excellent service as an embassy - as it has in the past.
Yet it would also suit being used as medical rooms. The garden level, in particular, could be ideal as a self-contained medical practice, subject to planning permission.
Office use is a possibility and there is further potential from the side access to the rear garden.
