More than €16,000 an acre sought for landmark Kerry holding
The main house and outbuildings of the 138-acre farm near Ardfert, Co. Kerry.
Any large holding in the Golden Vale pastures of North Kerry is going to cause a major splash when it comes on the market and the 137.8-acre Ballybroman House is already creating waves since its recent launch.
According to the Tralee-based selling agent Gary O’Driscoll, there has already been keen interest in the property and the only conundrum will be whether to sell it in its entirety or consider breaking it into separate lots.
The impressive holding is in the townland of Ballybroman, just 2km to the east of the village of Ardfert and approximately 9km north of Tralee. As the agents say, it is rare that a holding of such quality and size comes onto the market in one of the most sought-after locations in Kerry.
“It would have been a dairy farm many years ago,” said Mr O’Driscoll, “And it has since been a cattle farm – just used for grazing. It has an array of outbuildings near the dwelling house. These are older buildings and some of them would not be fit for use, but they still represent the potential for a number of different uses.”
The dwelling house is an imposing property that was built in the late 19th century by the well-known Crosbie family and the house has been in the possession of the same family for over 100 years.
The home’s setting is very impressive too, with access via a long avenue ascending to the front courtyard area. It features landscaped gardens that extend to over an acre and there are fine southerly views from the house.
“The house would be very much in a liveable condition and a very good structural condition,” said Mr O’Driscoll, “although it would require some cosmetic upgrading.”
The accommodation in Ballybroman House includes a front porch, entrance hallway, kitchen, dining room, living room, toilet, utility room, bathroom, rear hallway, a circa 5m cellar and garage on the ground floor. On the first floor, there is a landing which leads to five bedrooms and a bathroom.
“The original farm, under the Crosbies, would have been much larger,” noted Mr O’Driscoll, “but over time, different parts of it were sold off.”
The land is all in pasture and is in excellent condition throughout, the agents say. It is currently under lease but that will expire at the end of this year. Access couldn’t be better, with extensive public road frontage on most sides, the road acting as a separator between the bulk of the land and a 14-acre parcel.
“It is predominately high-quality arable ground,” he said, “with a very small proportion of poorer land. There are probably 23-25 acres of it that could be described as middling ground at best but the balance would be very good agricultural land.”
According to Mr O’Driscoll, the interest in the property so far has been excellent.
“We have a number of parties who have put their foot forward with regard to the entire holding... We are potentially looking at dividing it into separate lots, with the house, a smaller number of acres and the outbuildings constituting one lot and the remaining bulk of the land constituting the other.
“We’ve had interest from a number of parties also in just the house itself, as well as people interested in the bulk of the land but not the house and outbuildings.”
The price expectation for the overall holding is “in excess of €2.2m” or €16,000/acre. It seems an achievable price, whether it sells in one go or in separate lots.
