Sandycove lockdown sale nets over €6m in one of biggest sales of 2020

Deep in the grip of lockdown a prime south Dublin property has sold in a deal that is likely to be one of the biggest residential sales of the year. Seaspray and Windward are two properties on a prime coastal site at 2 Castle Place between Sandycove and Dalkey.

Following a quiet off market deal the two sold in July on a 0.44 acre site for a sum understood to be around €6.2 million. Owner and telco entrepreneur Iain MacDonald originally purchased the property in 2012 for €3million, and went on to secure planning permission to refurbish Portofino and build the contemporary detached house in the garden. The key attraction was the property’s 96 feet of ocean frontage, direct access to the shore and uninterrupted views across to Howth.

MacDonald then built Seaspray, a stunning contemporary 465 sq m (5,000 sq ft) five bed across the width of the site closer to the seashore while retaining the reworked original as 186 sq m (2,000 sq ft) of guest accommodation.

The buyer is businessman, Barry Connolly of Richmond Marketing. Connolly is currently downsizing from a very fine art deco-inspired five-bed home, Birchfield, on Westminster Road in Foxrock which was placed for sale in recent weeks seeking €2.95million. Clearly Connolly is a fan of de Blacam & Meagher architects who completely redesigned his Foxrock home, and who were also behind the sleek contemporary design of Seaspray. Estate agents Daphne Kaye and Rory Kirwan of Lisney were joint selling agents on the Sandycove deal, both declined to comment on the sale.

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In the 1990s Portofino was purchased by Robin Power for his coastal property portfolio along with adjoining number 1 Castle Place (which faces on to Breffni Road). Power quietly flipped Portofino to Brian and Mary Pat O’Donnell – of Gorse Hill fame – in 1999 and O’Donnell sought planning permission to convert the house to a 837 sq m mansion. The build never went ahead and the property was later sold in 2005 for around €3.85m.