Ireland's Most Expensive House Loses $58m In Value

At the height of the property madness in Ireland, a house called Walford on Dublin's south-side sold for $78.3 million - the highest ever paid for a house in Ireland.

The same house has just come back onto the market with a reserve price of just $20.2 million, a staggering drop of $58 million since 2005.

And even at that massively reduced price, it's unlikely to sell for that price.

In truth the house was never worth $78m.

Its sale in 2005 was done not at auction, but by tender.

It's believed the next highest bid was less than half that amount.

The owners who paid that ridiculous sum have always hidden their identity behind a trust called Matsack Nominees Limited, they are widely believed in property circles to be Sean and Gayle Dunne, the property magnates who have moved to Connecticut since Ireland's economic collapse.

At least two companies have been set up here in the US in Mrs Dunne's name - Molly Blossom LLC and Mountbrook USA LLC.

The couple has redeveloped two mansions in the upmarket town of Greenwich, including one in the Belle Haven enclave that was the subject of a long running and bitter dispute with residents in the area.

Those two properties are expected to come onto the market in the coming months.

But their prize jewel in Dublin is already on the market, and has been garnering lots of unflattering media attention in the past week.

The Tudor-style house is badly in need of an upgrade, and the planning permission for two more houses on the 1.8 acre surroundings which was granted, has now expired.

The property backs onto Shrewsbury Road which has always been Ireland's most expensive address.

But the house itself is just a shell, and most experts say any new owner will simply knock it down and build a modern mansion.

Two 18th Century marble fireplaces which used to be in the house have been removed, apparently by thieves in recent years.

All of the rooms have wooden floors and the walls are stripped bare, leading the Irish Times to brand it "Bleak House".

There are signs inside of some unfinished renovation work - rewiring, new electric heating and plumbing.

The large rear garden is devoid of any planting.

Realtors are promoting Walford as an ideal place for a foreign embassy - in truth it may take an outsider's money to turn the place into something befitting its premium address.