One of the last substantial sites in Malahide village in north Dublin is to be redeveloped for housing - but an 18th century thatched cottage-style house in the centre of it is to preserved. The landmark two-storey house, Casino, and its grounds of 6.8 acres is expected to sell for between £8 million and £10 million when it is auctioned by Hamilton Osborne King on October 14th.
A feasibility study carried out by architects Duffy Mitchell suggests that even allowing for the retention of the well-known house on about an acre, the remainder of the site, could accommodate a mixture of 175 apartments and houses. The land has been rezoned for housing since the 1993 Dublin County Development Plan came into operation. Most of Dublin's leading house-builders are likely to be in competition for the Malahide land, which is acknowledged as one of the best sites to have come on the market in north Dublin in recent years. Pat Nolan of Hamilton Osborne King says that houses in Malahide are now as eagerly sought after as those in Dalkey on the south side of the city. The thatched house is one of the oldest in the greater Dublin area. The earliest part of it dates from the 18th century but it has grown and developed to the various needs and desires of its owners over the years. The same family have owned it since the turn of the century.
Accommodation includes two reception rooms with bay windows, a breakfastroom, an old conservatory and a kitchen which opens into an enclosed yard. The main bedroom is on the ground floor but there are two more bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The grounds include a range of old sheds and a walled garden. Rows of mature trees, mainly around the perimeter of the site, will enhance any new housing development. Casino has a frontage of over 360 yards on to the Dublin road and almost as much on to the railway line, which is to be upgraded to a DART service. A new carpark for the rail service is being developed on part of Malahide demesne, on the opposite side of the road. Second-hand houses are difficult to find in Malahide because of the small number of developments completed over the years. This week, a four-bedroom detached house in Auburn Grove, an eight-year-old estate in the village, was put up for sale with a price tag of £600,000. Another development opportunity will arise in Malahide when a planning application has been lodged and processed for the second part of the old Malahide golf course, recently recommended to be rezoned for housing.
However, it seems unlikely that the 10-acre site will be offered for sale on the open market. An area occupied by the first nine holes on the golf course was sold off more than six years ago at between £55,000 and £70,000 for each of the 62 housing sites.
Paula Costelloe of local agent O'Farrell Cleere says there is a constant stream of callers to her office looking for individual housing sites - "a very scarce commodity in the Malahide area".
Only two apartments are still available in The Malahide Marina, where 420 units have been built over the past six years. The two two-bedroom apartments are priced at £228,000 and £249,000.
