Potential of 1960s home in D6

Peter Kenny of Gunne has quite reasonably kept the internal descriptions of 15 Dartry Park, Dublin 6 to a minimum. Not that the four-bedroom detached house, for auction on March 6th with a guide price of £600,000, doesn't provide plenty of material for a brochure - it's just that whoever buys it will almost certainly invest a good deal in refurbishment so existing fixtures and fittings are likely to go.

It is a solid 1960s home with good-sized rooms and a fine back garden. However, it does need refurbishment and that is part of its appeal. Increasingly, buyers at the upper end of the market are looking for location and square footage and the best value tends to be in post-war houses in suburbs close to town. In many cases these houses need full refurbishment. A look at other houses in quiet suburban streets which have changed hands in the recent past shows the changes people have made - from new solid wood windows to attic conversions to extended kitchens.

Number 15 Dartry Park was built in 1961. Since then the 2,000 sq ft house has been very well maintained but little has been done in the way of modernisation.

Upstairs there is a wide hallway with a picture window. The four bedrooms are all doubles and there is a good-sized bathroom. The downstairs layout incorporates an integral garage. There are two reception rooms as well as a guest cloakroom with a porthole window. There is a large kitchen/diningroom with built-in units and two windows that look out on to the mature back garden.

Clearly there is no great need to actually change anything because the house is perfectly habitable, but it is likely that, given the price bracket, this large family house will be substantially altered.

With a back garden that is wide as well as long, it would not be surprising if the new owners added a conservatory to the livingroom or extended the kitchen outwards. As well as greatly enlarging the kitchen area it would give it direct access to the garden.

The integrated garage at the front could be converted into another reception room, and there is room at the side of the house to replace the carport and lean-to type utility room with a modern utility or general purpose room. Upstairs, the roomy landing has space for a staircase to serve an attic conversion and there is room in the main bedroom for an en suite.

The bathroom is the most obvious candidate for renovation with its pink suite and grey tiles. The fireplaces in the livingrooms are made of exposed brick.