Dublin 4:Former taoiseach Albert Reynolds has finally sold his house on Ailesbury Road for a reputed €14 million - about €1 million shy of the initial asking price sought by Sherry FitzGerald when the property went on the market six months ago.
Mr Reynolds and his wife Kathleen have already downsized into a penthouse apartment in the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge so the new owners - a Dublin couple with several children - can move straight into the five-bedroom house at number 18.
The sale is good news for the road, which has seen a big turnover in ownership with no less than 10 of its houses selling in the last 18 months. The result is a major increase in building activity with industrial-scale renovations going on at several addresses, one of which has its own crane.
The latest house to come on the market is number 41, a terraced three-storey house that has been the headquarters of the electrical goods manufacturer Glen Dimplex for many years. The business is now moving to offices beside the airport to facilitate its growing overseas sales team. Tom Day of Lisney has put an AMV of €8.5 million on the house prior to auction next month.
Number 41 is fully fitted out as offices, but many of its original features have been preserved, including ornate cornicework and original fireplaces. It has a traditional layout with interconnecting rooms at hall level and several large upstairs rooms, one of them with expensive hardwood panelling.
There is no off-street car-parking, but there is rear access to a mews building that could be converted into a garage, or into staff quarters. The adjoining house was bought by financier Derek Quinlan earlier in the year for around €8.5 million.
