Blackrock €7.5m:Businessman's grand home is made for parties with a bar, games room and indoor pool writes Eoin Lyons
WEALTHY businessman David McKenna is selling the Southfork-style house he built on Avoca Avenue in Blackrock a decade ago. Greenan, a detached house with over 743sq m (8,000sq ft) of living space is surrounded by imposing period homes but its modern design allows for a grand interior that is made for parties.
Lisney has put an AMV of €7.5 million on the property prior to auction on February 20th.
Mr McKenna, whose recruitment company Marlborough collapsed in in 2002, was one of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's "dig-out" friends - a group of 12 businessmen who made payments totalling £38,500 to Mr Ahern in the 1990s.
He is believed to have bought a larger property elsewhere in Blackrock, hence the sale.
Steps and double columns around the front door were probably designed to lend a sense of importance to the exterior. Inside the front door there is a forked staircase with a railed gallery that is brightened by a roof light.
Most of the ground floor rooms open from this hall, following a logical circular format. These include the main reception room which could favourably compete with a hotel lobby and must be a dream for large-scale entertaining. There is a carved marble chimneypiece here.
The diningroom is on a floating mezzanine above this reception room. It's reached by a glass and chrome staircase, a feature that contrasts with the eclectic decoration elsewhere in the house.
There is another staircase in this room, down to a wine cellar in the basement. Off the reception room is a large wood-panelled bar that currently houses a pool table and a stag's head on the wall.
This room comes complete with ladies and gentlemen's bathrooms. Beyond this area is a gym that has a shower and washroom.
A swimming pool (which is almost 10m long) was a later addition and can be conveniently, although somewhat bizarrely, viewed through a window in the main reception room.
Despite this procession of large rooms, this 'house is very liveable in. There's also a cosy family room, a good-sized home office and a large workable kitchen. The owners have thoughtfully included a large utility room.
Upstairs there are five double bedrooms and multiple en suites. The en suite for the main bedroom is reached through a walk-in closet that is almost the size of another bedroom.
Outside, the rear garden is manageable and not overlooked. The grounds are monitored by CCTV cameras which is part of a larger security system.
Although new owners will want to put their own decorative stamp on the place, what will attract buyers is the trophy size and prime address.
