Businessman to build mansion on site of what was once most expensive home
BUSINESSMAN Dermot Desmond has secured planning permission to demolish what was once Ireland’s most expensive house and build a mansion in Dublin 4.
Mr Desmond’s plan will see him construct a 17,168sq ft property on Shrewsbury Road after knocking down Walford, which was sold for an eyewatering €58m in 2005.
The applicant behind the plan, Mr Desmond’s Celtic Trustees Ltd, has succeeded where three other previous attempts at demolishing Walford have failed with planners.
The Desmond company paid €14.25m for the property in December 2016 and the approved house plan, three times larger than the house to be demolished, includes four large en suite bedrooms, all with walk-in wardrobes. The three bedrooms to the rear of the property will all feature balconies that will look onto gardens.
Mr Desmond, the largest shareholder in Celtic FC, has recruited three time Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Marcus Barnett to oversee the creation of the elaborate private garden.
The planning application also features a basement that includes a subterranean swimming pool, gym, cellar and games room.
Planning documents lodged with the application state that “in the interests of transparency, we can confirm that the dwelling is intended for use as the private dwelling of Mr Dermot Desmond”.
The city council planning report recommended that planning be granted after its planner visited the site and agreed with the applicant that the existing house “does not have significant features which would require its retention”.