Dodd's 'Irish cottage' appreciates a bit in value

A new appraisal of the Irish cottage owned by Sen. Christopher Dodd concludes that it is worth about three times as much as Dodd has been reporting on his financial disclosure forms.

The new value of the cottage, located on Inishnee in Galway County, is $658,000, according to Dodd's 2008 financial disclosure form released today.

The appraisal was done by the same person who did the original one in 2002 when the 1,200 square-foot cottage was evaluated at about $190,000.

Dodd has been criticized for low-balling the worth of the cottage in his disclosure forms. Questions also have been raised about his original purchase of the cottage with a Kansas City businessman William Kessinger, who he met through long-time campaign contributor Edward Downe.

The new appraisal, commissioned by Dodd, was completed last month. Questions about the cottage and its true value were first raised earlier this year by the Courant.

"The value of the cottage - or of Irish real estate, generally - isn't something that the Dodds have thought much about. However, questions have been raised and they recognize that it's important to make a good faith effort at valuation for the Senate Financial Disclosures," spokesman Bryan DeAngelis said.