Chinese interest in Irish estate

A PRIVATE Chinese investor is amongst a number of potential buyers – all from overseas – who have made inquiries about Woodhouse Estate in Stradbally, Co Waterford, one of its owners, Aidan Farrell, said yesterday.

Farrell denied reports that a deal for the sale of the 17th century manor house on 383 acres, which has been on the market for about three years, was close to completion.

There have been many inquiries from buyers abroad since he and co-owner Charlie O’Reilly Hyland put the sporting estate up for sale on the international market, said Farrell. Inquiries have come mainly from England and America. It would be surprising if a Chinese investor did buy the property, and the first time an Irish country house had been sold to a Chinese buyer.

The property is for sale here through Savills, still with the price tag of €7.5 million that it has had for the past year and a half.

Property investors Farrell and O’Reilly Hyland bought Woodhouse, an estate built in 1605 by the FitzGeralds, in 2006 from its then owners, a branch of the Saudi royal family. They refurbished the property: as well as the manor house, with Italian fireplaces and restored sash windows there is a gate lodge, two cottages and a stable block.

Farrell describes it as a gentleman’s country house sporting estate. The 383 acres include a forest with over 150,000 oak trees planted in 1742 and arable land. There are salmon and trout in the River Tay which runs through the property.

Meanwhile a number of other country houses which have sold recently through Savills have had price cuts of up to 45 per cent.

Brownstown Stud in The Curragh, Co Kildare, has sold for in the region of €750,000. One of the oldest studs in the country, comprising a period home on 26 acres, it was withdrawn from auction in 2007 at €3.4 million, and came back to the market for €1.35 million in 2009. It has now sold for for around 45 per cent less than that.

Broomfield House, a restored country house on 12 acres with paddocks and stables, has sold for around €700,000, close to 40 per cent less than the €1.15m asking price when it first came to market around a year and a half ago.