Sandycove house attracts €15,000 a month in rent

Babcock & Brown, the Australian investment firm that has taken over Eircom, is to pay one of the highest rents in the city to house its incoming chief, Rex Comb.

The company is paying €15,000 a month to lease a luxury five-bedroom home on a spectacular seafront site at Sandycove in south Dublin for the Australian executive who divides his time between Melbourne and Dublin.

The new 557sq m (6,000sq ft) house at Marine Parade, Sandycove, has just been built by property developer Robin Power and his wife Michele Kavanagh.

The couple own a string of expensive houses along the south Dublin coast which rent for between €4,000 and €12,000 a month, mainly to overseas executives relocating to Dublin.

Mr Comb's new home was designed by the Powers and built in Germany by timber frame specialists. The high-spec finish includes eco-friendly heating and cooling systems and lavishly fitted bathrooms for each of the five bedrooms.

There is a separate mews for staff or guests, as well as a large nanny flat on the ground floor.

The two-storey house was designed with an embassy in mind - the Powers count the South African and Chilean embassies among their clients - the first floor is given over to to interconnecting reception rooms with superb views of the bay and room for 100 people for drinks.

The Powers bought the site about four years ago from the widow of the late hotelier Paddy Fitzpatrick, paying over €2 million. After a lengthy planning battle they got permission to demolish the modest two-storey house that stood on the site and replace it with the lavish new home and the staff house.

The Powers are big players in the corporate lettings market which, says Lisney, is very buoyant."There is very good demand but property at the top end of the market has to be in very good condition before it attracts a premium rent," says Joan Fogarty who heads the agency's letting division. "The decor has to be right up to date. Bathrooms and kitchens that are six or seven years old are not good enough." The agency recently let two period houses in Dublin 6 for €8,500 a month.