Late Fine Gael TD John Kelly's D4 Victorian redbrick - which was bought by his father for a few thousand pounds in the 1950s - is on the market, writes Property Editor Orna Mulcahy
A fine Victorian semi-detached house and separate mews on Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, is set to make over €11 million at auction through Sherry FitzGerald on April 5th.
Number 17 is being sold by Delphine Kelly, widow of the late Fine Gael minister and distinguished academic John Kelly, who died in 1991. John Kelly inherited the house from his father who bought it for a few thousand pounds in the 1950s.
The gracious redbrick and granite fronted house has proved a superb investment, given the hot demand for large period houses in the neighbourhood both as homes and investments.
The last house to sell on Ailesbury, number 67, was snapped up in January, before auctioneers Douglas Newman Good had time to print a brochure.
It was sold by former EU Commissioner Richard Burke for a price believed to be over €10 million.
Political connections abound on Ailesbury Road and just across the road from number 17 is the home of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds with its security booth manned around the clock.
Number 17 is on the sunny side of the road, and the house is set well back with plenty of off-street parking. There is access through a side gate to a large ground-floor flat.
The walled back garden extends to around 130 feet, with the mews at the end.
An original cut-stone coach-house, it has been refurbished into a three-bedroom home that is accessed via a separate laneway off Ailesbury Road.
The property backs onto the playing fields of St Michael's school which will heighten its appeal for families with young boys.
Inside, number 17 is a very impressive house with light flooding into the L-shaped hallway from a tall arched window to the side.
There are three reception rooms - a gorgeous drawingroom with a bay window overlooking the back garden, and two interconnecting rooms at the front of the house.
Currently used as a study and a diningroom, these rooms could be knocked together to make one very good reception room with fireplaces at either end. All three formal rooms have superb cornicing, and working shutters to the tall sash windows. The first of the bedrooms is on the first return, and there are four further bedrooms on the first floor.
One of the bedrooms has an en suite bathroom, while the others share a large family bathroom.
The fifth bedroom is at the top of the house, and it's a fine sunny room with views over the back garden.
New owners will probably relocate the kitchen to the ground floor, which is currently laid out at as a four-bedroom flat, but which could easily be reworked to provide a large eat-in kitchen, family room, utility and staff quarters.
