Extended Blackrock five-beds - each for under ?1 million

Two large refurbished Co Dublin homes have relatively modest guides. Bernice Harrison and Anne Dempsey report

Avoca Road: €875,000

A look at the square footage on this ordinary looking Blackrock semi-d is the clearest indication that the house has been significantly extended over the years.

At 172 sq m (1,850sq ft), number 15 Avoca Road is larger than its original size due to a single storey extension. This is at the side of the house and goes deep into the back garden and provides an extra reception room to the front and two bedrooms and a bathroom at the back.

That extension was added by previous owners. The current owners, who have lived here for seven years, have just completed a top-to-bottom refurbishment so buyers will find it in walk-in condition. The five-bedroom house is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald at auction on February 16th with a guide of €875,000.

Inside to the right are two interconnecting reception rooms. At the back is the eat-in kitchen, with a relatively small dining area at one end and the fitted kitchen at the other. New owners may find this kitchen/dining area a bit on the small size and choose to extend the kitchen into the sunroom at the back of the house.

On the other side of the house at hall floor level in the extended part is a reception room to the front now used as a study and down a hall are two bedrooms, a double and a single, and an attractively refurbished bathroom.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms, two doubles and a single and a shower room. The back garden is around 23 metres long. There is car-parking in the drive way to the front.

Grove Road: €975,000

It is not often that a five-bedroom property in Blackrock, Co Dublin comes on the market with a price tag of under €1 million, so the sale of 18 Talbot Lodge, Grove Avenue, Blackrock should attract interest. It will be auctioned on February 17th with Douglas Newman Good guiding €975,000.

Talbot Lodge is situated at the Stillorgan end of Grove Avenue, a short walk from Stillorgan shopping centre. The 12-year-old cul- de-sac development of 28 detached homes has a green play area with a venerable tree.

Number 18 has been upgraded to just short of 185 sq m (2,000 sq ft) of accommodation with extensions providing a glazed diningroom and extra bedrooms.

The stained glass hall door opens to a good-sized hall with beechwood floor. The front-facing drawingroom has a marble fireplace flanked by built-in storage, a bay window and recessed lighting. Double doors open to a livingroom with a Junckers beech floor, built-in bookshelves and a sliding glazed door leading to the diningroom.

It has double doors to the rear garden and two large Velux windows. Across the hall is a study/playroom decorated in shades of burnt umber, with built-in shelving and cupboard space.

The diningroom, which is connected to the kitchen / breakfastroom, is outfitted in light oak with worktop and breakfast bar topped in black granite. Pride of place in the kitchen is given to a Waterford Stanley solid fuel cooker and there is a range of integrated equipment. There is a utility room off it.

Upstairs the en suite main bedroom has wall-to-wall wardrobes. Three of the other four bedrooms have built-in storage. The family bathroom is particularly fine: it has double basins set in granite and a large wall mirror.

The front garden is cobblelocked with good room for car-parking. A wrought-iron gate leads round to the rear garden which has a landscaped lawn.