Edwardian redbrick for £850,000 - plus

One of the best period properties in Malahide to come on the market in recent years, Delmaine, a large Edwardian house on Dublin Road, is expected to fetch over £850,000 at a Lisney auction on April 29th. The detached six-bedroom house is within a short walk of the village and is close to the planned DART station due to open next year. To the front, it overlooks the grounds of Malahide Castle while its top storey rear windows look out over neighbouring houses to the Broadmeadow estuary.

Built in the late 1890s, Delmaine is a solid, redbrick house set well back from the road and standing on just under half an acre of grounds. The back garden is bounded by a mature hedge and beyond this is a strip of land which is being retained by the owner. While he has no plans to develop it immediately, the likelihood is that one or two houses will be built there in the future. A driveway sweeps around most of the front garden with a circular bed dominated by a cherry tree at its centre.

Unusually, the front door is at the side of the house and it opens directly into a large, almost square hall. Double doors lead into the elegant drawing room, which is over 30 ft long and has a tall, modern, bay window incorporating French doors to the garden.

The rest of the ground floor rooms lead off a long inner hall and include a double reception room, once used as a formal dining room, and a cosy study. The kitchen-cum-breakfast room is a large, L-shaped space that new owners will probably remodel to provide a more workable room. From here, there is access to a yard, off which is the large, double garage and a large shed that was once used to stage family plays and could easily be upgraded to a utility room or home office.

Upstairs, the space naturally divides into two distinct bedroom areas. At the first landing is a bathroom and bedroom one, a charming, irregular-shaped room over the front door. Through an archway is an inner landing leading to the main bedroom, with its large en suite bathroom, and a second bedroom. The remaining three bedrooms are on the first floor, and all are big, bright, double bedrooms. There is also a walk-in closet that could be converted into an en suite shower room. The house has a comfortable, rambling feel to it - but it does need redecoration. There is great potential to extend, either to the side or at the back, where a large patio could be sacrificed in favour of a conservatory or a kitchen extension.

The back garden is mostly in lawn bordered with meticulously kept beds filled with shrubs and roses. An original well has been restored and though it is over 40 ft deep, it has a safety cover.