Spare a thought for the country estate vendor. While proles like us allow ourselves to get excited by house price drops of sums anywhere up to €100,000, imagine making the call to drop your asking price by €1,250,000.
Such was the fate this week of Jamestown Court in Co Westmeath. The impeccably restored Palladian Georgian home, which went on the market in September for €2,850,000 through Sherry FitzGerald, has dropped its asking price to €1,600,000.
The seven-bed house, which dates from 1740, is surrounded by formal pleasure grounds and is set on 62 acres of parkland. There’s a guest lodge and gate lodge thrown in for good measure too. That’s a whole lot of house for €1.6 million.
Compare this with Breffni House in Osberstown, Naas, which sold at auction yesterday through Knight Frank, for €975,000 – €25,000 above the AMV of €950,000. This contemporary seven- bed home is newly built in a classic style, and also comes with 59 acres of land. However, there any comparison with Jamestown Court ends.
That said, results like Osberstown might inject a little heart into the country house market. Maybe Jamestown Court needs a good old fashioned auction too, and let the market decide its real value.
