WIW Windermere, Westminister Road, Foxrock, Co. Dublin.

What's it Worth? (WIW)
1

Windermere, Westminster Road, Foxrock, Dublin 18. D18K6W4
6 Bedrooms, 7,013 sq ft (650 sq m), 0.45 Acre
lisney.com/sale/house-for-sale-in-windermere-westminster-road-foxrock-dublin/16196
https://www.cantrellcrowley.com/downloads/Home/Home/PROJECTS/Residential_Houses/156574a41e688ee5c0.jpg

Irish Times write up an history of site and its development (quite interesting).
irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/windermere-final-house-for-sale-in-a-foxrock-trio-for-3m-1.2327974

Stunning Cantrell & Crowley high-end house (profiled on their website), which would have been one of the highest end fit-outs seen for sale for quite a while in Dublin (inside is amazing), sitting on almost half an acre, on one of Foxrock’s best roads.
cantrellcrowley.com/ResidentialHouseProjects_WindemereWestminsterRoadFoxrockDublin18.php

Probably 2.5m of build costs+fit-out+VAT here (350 sq ft all-in), excluding site cost (worth +1m at a 2m per acre mark).
(The 350 sq ft cost would have been c. 250-275 sq ft build and fit-out + Prof Fees 12% + 13.5% VAT)

Just sold for over 3.15m on the register (i.e. less then cost of build+site, never mind a mark-up).
(note, despite being new, the bank sat on it long enough, that VAT did not apply, and sold as second hand.)

Date of Sale:03/03/2016
Price: €3,150,000.00
Not Full Market Price:No
VAT Exclusive:No
Description of Property:Second-Hand Dwelling house /ApartmentDate of Sale:03/03/2016
propertypriceregister.ie/Website/npsra/PPR/npsra-ppr.nsf/eStampUNID/UNID-B24454F3D3932FC980257F71004CF180?OpenDocument

Interesting comparison with “sister house” done by the same developer / architect, Grassmere, which sold for 1.8m in early 2013.
independent.ie/life/home-garden/homes/fancy-foxrock-26529274.html
thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=19997

Grassmere was 3,745 sq ft of period house restored to mint condition which sold for euro 475 per sq ft, where as Windermere, has gone for lower at 440 per sq ft (and would have cost at least 350 sq ft to build all-in alone ex site).

Had Windermere achieved Grassmere’s early 2013 pricing, it would have sold for almost 3.4m (what Lisney hoped).

In addition, Windermere’s “sister house”, Hazelmere (same size, sitting behind it, slightly less attractive and slightly poorer site shape), sold for 2.5m at the absolute bottom in the summer of 2012. The uplift of 25% from the bottom in 2012, to the 2016 sale of Windermere, is a common pattern in high-end Co. Dublin (i.e. outside of D4 and D6).
https://www.cantrellcrowley.com/downloads/Home/Home/PROJECTS/Residential_Houses/201294a6ecceb24ed6.jpg

A cautionary tale for many sites in Foxrock, with several currently asking over the euro 2m an acre mark (and on lesser roads). The long standing saga of Mandeville (and now linked with Carrigmore, plus potentially another linked site) a case in point where we see the EA needing a Plan A (sell for 2m an acre), Plan B (sell for 2.6m for multi-house), Plan C (combine with other site), Plan D (other site for 2m an acre). Tricky stuff !
thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=64604

See following link for further analysis on Dublin high-end residential prices in 2012 vs. 2013 vs. 2014. vs. 2015
thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=65796

2

Both houses are just plain, well, plain. Boring to say the least. 2 million quid for a “Dream in Cream”?

One could build something nice for that kind money…

3

Any suggestions ?

Big glass and steel houses are (1) expensive (+500 sq ft), and (2) impractical in Ireland (they don’t survive the climate).

Modern red-bricks are an other option, but have also been done to death in Dublin.

However if you want to do it properly (like the photo below), is also very expensive (and even the house below is done with slightly cheaper brick due to the cost from the scale of its construction - almost slightly McMansion).
https://www.ndba.ie/images/mart-lane-01.jpg

The architect of the above, Niall D Brennan, has better examples on Orwell Road in my view (but they were really really expensive to do - much more expensive than Windermere, although Windermere was a higher level of fit-out in my view).
https://www.ndba.ie/images/images_res_3a.jpg

4

For me the thing about Foxrock is that you’re just going to end up driving everywhere. It’s close to both the N11 and the M50, but they have huge congestion problems. There’s no train and no Luas, only Dublin bus and if I’m buying a 3m house I don’t really want to be stuck with Dublin Bus.

It’s not like the amenities I’d want - decent restaurants, nice cafes, decent walking routes, high end shops are all that short of a drive either. Golf I guess is close by.

Few people need the space these homes have. Better to take the 3m and buy a decently sized smaller home more convenient to the activities I want to have on hand every week.

5

I think you have captured well why Foxrock has been in such a decline vs. D4+D4, and also vs. Dalkey+Killiney for upper end.

There was a time in the 1990s where D4+D6 was much cheaper than Foxrock, Dalkey or Killiney. And while Dalkey and Killiney attracted the international “artist exemption” money (Damon Hill, Eddie Irvine, Lisa Stansfield, Jim Kerr, U2 etc.), the “Irish” new rich built brand new mega MacMansions in Foxrock (Westminster Road, Kerrymount Road).

When golf was the be-all and end-all of Dublin high society, Foxrock was like a Country Club (i.e. city version of K-club), and therefore didn’t need a decent village, as they were all in the golf club house. With the decline of golf however, the lack of any other hooks (no great village, no great sea views, major commute) have been exposed.

Foxrock still offers larger plot sizes for 2-3m (much more expensive in D4+D6), but I think that Killiney and Dalkey are now more preferred and have more “cache” for foreign buyers. I think that you will see the housing density pick up a lot in Foxrock, as the “big sites” get bought for multi-family development (i.e. 3 acres of Mandeville+Carrigmore+Neighbour on Torquay Road). thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=64604)