€3m off in D15
A Tiger-era trophy home in receivership has its own swimming pool
Such was the enormity of Ireland’s property crash that some repossessed and receiver-controlled properties still haven’t been properly dealt with 12 years later. Take Huntington on Outfarm Lane at the Carpenterstown Road in Castleknock, Dublin 15.
This detached red-brick was built for Jimmy Boucher, an executive who made his fortune in the plumbing and heating business, and when the Celtic Tiger roared, he became a developer. Alongside other investors in Uxbridge Properties, he planned a 128,000 sq ft centre in Castleknock with 15 shops, 50 apartments and a private medical centre. Ultimately those plans were withdrawn in 2009.
In 1994, Boucher, a feature on the Irish international polo team in that decade, built Huntington as his prize personal home with a swimming pool, sauna, home bar, Jacuzzi bathrooms festooned with Roman arches, gold bath tub, cavernous reception rooms and a games room.
In 2007, he placed Huntington on the market for €4m, at the time describing it as “the ultimate party house”. At that time the property didn’t sell.
Some years ago it was placed into receivership. The original loan was provided by Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin’s Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which could be blamed for as much financial carnage in Ireland as Anglo, our homegrown debt belching behemoth.
In the mid to late 90s, Ireland’s economy had been growing rapidly based on largely sound fundamentals. The Irish banks were lending within 85pc to 90pc rules. But in came the aggressive Shred-led RBS in a competition blitz that offered Irish homebuyers 100pc loans for the first time. Irish banks were forced to compete and a mortgage war erupted with cash thrown around like confetti.
Goodwin, nicknamed ‘The Shred’ because of his penchant for axing jobs (he offloaded 18,000 when he took over Nat West), was knighted in 2004 for his “services to banking”. Four years later, Fred’s RBS turned in the biggest annual loss in British corporate history when it landed Stg£28bn in the red. The Queen took Fred’s knighthood back. Those in Ireland who found themselves in the red to The Shred had to wait years for RBS to be sorted out. Later, its loans were acquired by other institutions, which in turn took time to get a handle on them.
In receivership, Huntington was sold a year ago for over €1m, but that deal since fell through. Now Huntington is on offer again, this time at €3m less than the original 2007 asking price.
Today, Artis estate agents wants offers above €930,000 — currently the highest bid (at the time of going to press) under the new Offr sales system. Offr, which launched just over a year ago, allows bidding, buying, legal work and contract exchange to be conducted entirely online, which suits the Covid-19 lockeddown world in which we find ourselves. It also creates a transparent forum by which all bidders can see the opposing offers on the table at all times.
A decade too late for the big trophy home fire sale of 2011, Huntington could still offer value to buyers because, like so many Celtic Tiger-era trophy homes built to order for their original occupants, the standard of fit-out is super high, if not to everybody’s taste.
This was built in the era when top-end self builders went all out in porcelain, travertine marble and Villeroy and Boch. And even by the standards of upmarket Castleknock, this home is substantial at 4,392 sq ft and also relatively modern in an area where most stock was built from the 1960s to the 90s. It’s located on decent garden spaces in a very private setting.
An eye-catching feature here is the chequerboard porcelain-tiled entrance hall with two Roman style arches leading off it, the main staircase visually cutting diagonally through one of them.
The main reception has an extraordinarily ornate white marble chimney piece and this room flows into a dining room and then on into an openplan extra large kitchen and dining area that spans 200 sq ft. This and the home’s pool and leisure complex give it those cutting-edge party credentials.
The ground floor also provides a second reception room/home office, utility room, and bar/games room. A single-storey extension to the rear has a Jacuzzi bathroom, a sun/lounge room, and a spare bedroom. There’s a lavish stand-alone gold coloured tub.
The first floor has four bedrooms and the master suite comes with a dressing room and ensuite shower, while the second has a Jack and Jill Heritage bathroom and access to a roof terrace via French doors. Bedrooms three and four both have ensuite shower rooms. And of course, there’s the swimming pool and the pool house with a sauna and bar.
Its accommodation count makes Huntington the largest home currently for sale in Castleknock for under €2m.