A three-bedroom 3,000 sq ft apartment in exclusive Hazeldene on Anglesea Road in Dublin 4 is due to be auctioned on December 6th through Lisney with a guide price of £1 million. In the mid-1990s, former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds sold his double apartment there for £360,000. If 5/6 Cypress fetches £1 million or more, it will join the super-league of Dublin apartments - currently headed by the Millennium Tower top floor penthouse in Charlotte Quay, Dublin 4, which sold for a record £2 million-plus in September. The Hazeldene home is one of just a handful of expansive apartments in the complex.
A three-bedroom, first-floor apartment, it is unusual in terms of its size, character and charm. It has an old world elegance, with a gentleman's dressingroom in the main bedroom suite, and an antique marble fireplace in the livingroom. There are also sporadic touches of the modern, with spotlighting in the kitchen and electronically operated curtains in the livingroom.
The study to the right of the U-shaped hallway is a sober room with dark red walls and mahogany book and display cases. The current occupants have a large desk in the study but also use it as a dining area. It could be converted to another bedroom.
A door to the left of the study leads to the kitchen, which comes with a double oven, hob, dishwasher and fridge. It has white tiling, the original white Italian units and a storage area which contains a washing machine and a dryer. The livingroom is spacious with yellow and white panelled walls, a 19th century Wyatt-style marble fireplace, wooden floors, and cream and gilt radiator covers - a feature of many of the rooms. The mirrored wall reflects light from the wall of windows opposite, which incorporates sliding patio doors leading to a south-west facing sun terrace shaded by shrubbery and plants. To the left of the main door, on the other side of the hall, are the three bedrooms. The first floral-patterned bedroom has twin beds and a double wardrobe and has a view overlooking the Merrion cricket grounds.
The next bedroom along the hall is a double with ample wardrobe space and, like most of the rooms, has a decorative ceiling rose. The en suite is fully tiled and there is also a shower room which is tiled and has a storage cabinet.
The apartment moves into another league as you walk along the hall through a door and into the main bedroom area, the lobby of which has mirrored sliding double wardrobes. The gentleman's dressingroom is flanked on either side by mahogany wardrobes. Its en suite is primrose with a gold-plated shower, an antique reproduction sink with gold taps and a heated towel rail. The main bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and a lady's bathroom with pink floral detail, a marble top double sink with under-storage, a large Jacuzzi-style bath and a bidet. The bedroom has a mirrored wall behind the bed which reflects the light from the window and also has access to a large tiled balcony. There are several storage areas off the main hall including a cloakroom, utility room and hot press. Carpets and curtains are included in the sale. There is a telephone system throughout.
The apartment comes with two car-parking spaces and the service charge is £1,109 per quarter. There is a video intercom to the main entrance and a security hut behind the main gate of the complex where the caretaker is based.
Although apartments in exclusive Hazeldene do not come on the market very often, a 1,000 sq ft two-bedroom apartment sold there in March for £690,000. In April 1999 a duplex apartment in Hazeldene fetched what was then a record price of £650,000.
