£450,000-plus for Dalkey villa

The Gunne agency is suggesting a guide price of £450,000-plus for Violet Hill, a detached Victorian five-bedroom house on Vico Road, Dalkey, that last changed hands in 1996. It sold in April of that year for £315,000.

Since then, it has been virtually untouched except for the fact that all its original fireplaces have been removed. This time around, selling agent Brian Nolan expects it to fetch more than £450,000 at auction on February 17th. Built over 150 years ago, the house was originally used as a summer villa. It has superb views over Killiney Bay, particularly from the upper floor where the sea looks close enough to touch. In the distance is Bray Head and the Sugar Loaf mountains, while immediately to the left is a clear view of Sorrento Terrace where a house sold last year for £5.9 million. Violet Hill sits on about a third of an acre of steeply terraced gardens with frontage on to Vico Road of over 100 feet. At present, there is no offstreet parking and residents would probably be obliged to park on nearby Sorrento Terrace or Sorrento Road.

It might be possible to create a parking space at street level, subject to the necessary planning permission. A set of steps rises from the roadside to the house. Inside, the property is in need of complete renovation. There are two reception rooms off the central hall, both bright rooms with windows to the front and side.

At the back of the house there is a series of rooms including a pantry and a kitchen floored in old flags. There are two tiny bedrooms on the first return, two large bedrooms on the first floor - both with spectacular views - and a further attic bedroom.