A lavishly refurbished house on over half an acre on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4 has a swimming pool, tennis court and staff quarters - all for €27.5m
THERE HASN'T been a house for sale on Shrewsbury Road in Ballsbridge since 2005 when a 1.8-acre property, Walford, made a sensational €58 million, and another was sold to telecoms tycoon Denis O'Brien for €28 million.
Three years on, the market has changed and prices have dropped back, even in this exclusive neighbourhood. Now, one of the best houses on the road, Balholm, is on the market asking €27.5 million.
A superb Edwardian detached house set on 0.58 acres that include a sunken tennis court and outdoor swimming pool, Balholm was built in 1900, and has changed hands only four times since. The current ownershave lived here since the 1990s but are now relocating abroad, hence the sale which is being handled by Simon Ensor of Sherry FitzGerald.
The Gothic-style six bedroom house is set well back from the road with space to park half a dozen cars or more behind electronically controlled gates.
Much of the back garden is given over to the full size tennis cour and the swimming pool, which are screened from the neighbours by fast-growing trees planted along the boundaries. The handsome redbrick house is almost as private, cloaked in ivy and wisteria.
Inside, the 465sq m (5,000sq ft) house is in excellent order, having been thoroughly renovated and extended and decorated in a classic style suited to its lofty proportions.
A deep porch shelters the front door, which opens into a superb hallway with limestone flooring and a large Georgian style fireplace. Double doors lead through to the drawingroom which spans the full depth of the house and, according to the owner, can seat 60. Walls here and throughout the house are decorated with special paint finishes. With tall windows to the front, a wide bay window to the side, and French doors leading to the back garden at the other end, it's an elegant, bright room with American oak flooring, matching marble fireplaces, and superbly detailed cornicing and centre roses, from which hang Tipperary crystal chandeliers.
Off the hallway to the right are the family quarters - an inviting series of rooms starting with a big informal kitchen that opens out onto the gardens. The hand-painted SieMatic kitchen is centred on a double Aga cooker, and a large island unit that has storage for just about everything, including secure drawers with velvet grooves for holding canteens of cutlery.
Several doors open off the kitchen, with one leading to a large, but deliberately cosy, panelled sittingroom which originally opened from the hallway.
There is a second family room beyond the kitchen with a high glazed ceiling and doors to the garden.
A large utility room is bigger than most kitchens, and there is also a suite of rooms suitable for an au pair or housekeeper.
The hallway is dominated by a baronial-style oak staircase that rises to the first floor, past a 10ft mullioned window.
The main bedroom has a wide cushioned window seat giving a ringside view of the comings and goings on the road. It's a fabulously spacious room with a large en suite bathroom and a fully shelved dressingroom. There are two more bedrooms at this level, along with a charming family bathroom, while the top floor has two stunning attic bedrooms with en suites giving a bird's eye view over the neighbours' gardens.
A detached garage with gym overhead could be converted into additional living space. There is also a one-bed cottage, screened from view behind the tennis court.
