Davy Property Holdings, one of the main Irish players in the fast-moving office and retail investment market, has just bought its most unusual asset – a classical Georgian mansion at 10 Ormond Quay in Dublin's north inner city which specialises in corporate entertainment, private parties and exclusive weddings.
The purchase will not, however, signify Davy’s entry into the entertainment business. Its plan is to lease it to a leading company with a track record for “pulling in the crowds and sending them home happy”.
The sale will not interrupt business at Number 10 because the four-storey over basement property next to the Morrison Hotel has been sold as a going concern – complete with lavish furnishings, paintings, gilt mirrors and objets d'art.
John Hughes of CBRE is understood to have negotiated a sale price of just over €2.8 million for the property, which has consistently attracted between 20 and 25 wedding receptions a year with the high point set of four functions a week during the boom years.
The business has been run by John Lynch, who bought the house in 1996 from the Kenyon family, who rescued it for their antique business. Structural work They carried out crucial restorative structural work, including the rebuilding of the top two floors.
Lynch has been using that area as living accommodation, leaving the three lower floors in commercial use.
Most of the building’s integrity has been preserved and it continues to reflect the superb qualities of the Georgian era, with a floor area of 1,105 sq m (11,900 sq ft).
Number 10 was designed for entertaining on a grand scale and apart from the stunning reception rooms at ground and first floor level, the main diningroom – which was once a tie factory – can easily seat 70 guests.
Many of the furnishings have historical significance, including a bookcase in the front hall which came from the Mannix family in Cork and is thought to have been a dowry piece for Archbishop Mannix as he entered Maynooth.
