While living in a lockdown has its limitations, those with deeper pockets looking to get away from it all without the necessity of leaving home could do worse than consider the opportunity presented by the sale of the singer Chris de Burgh’s Co Wicklow home.
Although the Georgian mansion has remained stubbornly on the market since being offered for sale by David Ashmore of Sotheby’s International Realty at a guide price of €12.5 million in June 2019, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic last February, and its refusal to leave since, may yet help to make the 11-hectare (27-acre) Bushey Park estate an attractive proposition for a wealthy buyer.
Having acquired the eight-bedroom house, on the outskirts of Enniskerry village, from the Bisgood family in 1996, de Burgh spent seven years refurbishing it. The lavish renovation extended to a 140sq m (1,500sq ft) guest cottage, restored stables and the addition of substantial new buildings, one of which houses a swimming pool.
The singer, who is best known for his 1986 hit Lady in Red, said in 2019 that he was very familiar with old houses, having spent much of his childhood in a 12th-century Irish castle that his parents ran as a hotel. “I used to go to a lot of these houses and see their old owners hunched around the fire, trying to keep warm.”
Determined to avoid such hardship at Bushey Park, the singer upgraded the 2,337sq m (25,685sq ft) property with state-of-the-art heating and insulation. Other additions to Bushey Park include a cinema room and a panic room with 5cm-thick steel doors, and purpose-built furniture. De Burgh, who lives at Bushey Park with his wife, Diane, has indicated that the furniture could also be available to purchase.
