€5.5 million drop for Quinlan on Ailesbury Road

BALLSBRIDGE: Bought in 2007 for €8.5 million, financier Derek Quinlan's investment is now for sale for €2.95million

ONE OF the casualties of the collapsed property market, financier Derek Quinlan, is set to take a big hit on a Ballsbridge house he bought as an investment for €8.5 million in 2007 and is now selling for €2.95million.

The 65 per cent drop will “devastate” neighbours on Ailesbury Road, according to an estate agent who has handled many sales there in the last decade.

At the height of the property boom similar houses fetched anywhere between €10 million and €15 million, depending on their fitout and aspect.

This house, number 43, is being sold by Lisney, where director John O’Sullivan says it’s “priced to sell”. The house has been empty for some time and needs refurbishment.

It has also lost much of its original garden to a large, two-storey mews house, built by previous owners. This mews is not being sold as part of the package. The remaining garden is around 45 ft by 36 ft, about a third the size of the gardens enjoyed by its immediate neighbours.

The lack of garden goes some way to explaining the asking price. A larger house is for sale nearby, on the opposite site of the road, priced at €5.5 million, but it has its original garden.Quinlan is believed to be on the point of selling his home on nearby Shrewsbury Road, for a price said to be around €7 million. The sale was due to complete just before Christmas but has dragged on into the new year. The financier, who no longer lives in Ireland, owns two additional investment properties on Shrewbury Road as well as other houses in the Dublin 4 area. He had planned to upgrade 43 Ailesbury Road as embassy offices since it had been occupied by the Embassy of Mexico for many years previously.

However, residents objected to an intensification of office use for the house and the application was refused. This time it is likely to sell as a home rather than an investment, despite the small garden.

The house itself is a flat-fronted Victorian property with around 368sq m (3,961sq ft) of living space. There are two large reception rooms at hall level with a study in the return. Downstairs, at garden level, are two further large, square rooms, with a small kitchen to the rear of the house. Bedrooms are arranged on the return levels and on the first floor.

The house needs a good deal of work, as does the truncated garden. One the plus side, it has kept some of its original features intact, such as the ornate plasterwork ceiling decorations of the hallway and reception rooms. The wide staircase is also impressive.

Though the price may surprise the neighours, it’s not the cheapest house on the road. Lisney is also selling that – a modern house, number 62, at the far end, close to Donnybrook Church, which has been for sale for several months at €2.5 million.