Leading Dublin house-builder Sean Dunne is about to build a trophy home on Dublin's Shrewsbury Road after emerging victorious from a High Court battle over the coveted site. The dispute involved completion of the sale of the site of 0.2 of an acre, which Dunne had negotiated to buy from Niall O'Farrell, of Black Tie dress hire, for £3 million. O'Farrell, who is building a detached house on an adjoining site, now faces legal costs of close to £750,000 after six days in the Four Courts. Part of the row revolved around ownership of just three feet of the site - but when you're in Shrewsbury Road every square inch counts.
O'Farrell set a record when he bought the combined site of 0.4 of an acre from the College of Pharmacology for £3.6 million in December, 1998. With a queue of wealthy people waiting to buy one of the older houses in Shrewsbury Road, Dunne is no doubt happy to have been able to get his site for £3 million. Architect Brian Conroy, who was responsible for the golf villas at Mount Juliet Country Club, is lined up to design the mansion.
Even with astronomical legal costs, O'Farrell has still got himself a cheap pad on what is now seen as the ultimate address.
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