Money talks while wealth whispers. As sayings go, it’s one you might apply to Ireland’s super-prime residential sector right now judging by the number of high-profile homes changing hands quietly in Dublin and beyond.
Having only recently recorded the €20 million sale of the Abbey Leix estate in Co Laois to billionaire co-founder of Stripe John Collison, developer Pat Crean's €11 million purchase of Lissadell on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4, and the €9 million paid for Glenheather on Blackrock's Avoca Avenue, the upper end of the market is on the move again.
Number 1 Sorrento Terrace in Dalkey is just the latest palatial pad to be sold below the radar by its owner. Having paid €10 million to acquire Sorrento House (to give it its official title) in 2015, the British IT recruitment millionaire Bill Bottriell has sold the sumptuously appointed six-bed mansion to a UK-based Irish businessman for €10.65 million. The off-market transaction is understood to have been brokered by selling agent Vincent Finnegan.
Situated at the end of a stunning strip of protected Victorian houses between Bullock Harbour and Killiney’s Vico Road, 1 Sorrento Terrace comprises a 714sq m (7,685sq ft) property atop two acres of headland that afford it dual aspect views of Dalkey Sound, Bray Head and the Sugarloaf.
Neighbours on the strip include film-maker Neil Jordan and property developing partners Robin Power and Michelle Kavanagh.
But while Sorrento House occupies an enviable location, it owes much of its appeal to the extensive refurbishment works carried out between 1998 and 2006 by its then owner, Terry Coleman. Having paid £5.9 million (€7.5 million) to acquire the property, Mr Coleman spent an estimated €13 million on modernising and extending it.
The house was lavishly refurbished throughout and features antique Jerusalem marble in the hallway, three types of wood in the ornate parquet flooring in the dining room, and decorative Japanesque panels that were commissioned for a number of rooms.
Arguably the finest room is the orangery, glazed on all sides with three sets of French windows opening to a wraparound terrace that takes in the full breadth of Killiney Bay. In the study downstairs, Coleman’s keen interest in game shooting and fishing was indulged with wall panels hand painted by celebrated gamebird artist Rodger McPhail.
To the side of the property, a two-storey extension was added from basement level down that ties the garden into the property at every level. Other additions are a summer house, a separate guest/staff apartment and a garage for six cars - on two levels.
