Dublin 4 duo offer style and convenience

Haddington Road: €1.4m A pair of good-sized city townhouses in the heart of Ballsbridge have touches of traditional style and plenty of modern comforts. Eoin Lyons reports

A refurbished three-bedroom house at 92 Haddington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 is set to make over €1.4 million at auction through Lisney on September 14th.

The two-storey terraced house, which dates from 1840, is located opposite the entrance to what was the old Beggar's Bush Barracks and is now an apartment complex.

Number 72 extends to 173sq m (1,860sq ft) and should appeal to those looking for a home very near the city centre with traditional comforts but easy to manage inside and out.

It might best suit a young couple with one or two children or an older couple who want space to entertain but don't need many bedrooms.

The location may be convenient, but inside is where the real attraction lies. The house was refurbished five years ago and the atmosphere is welcoming thanks to ground floor rooms that flow seamlessly into one another and fresh decoration that makes the place ready for new occupants to live in.

There is residential permit on-street car-parking and a small front garden.

Inside, the entrance hall has all the usual period details and to the right is a double drawingroom that is almost 30ft long, a room that could be both formal and cosy. This leads to the kitchen and dining area.

The architect for the rear extension was Professor Cathal O'Neill and is perhaps the most attractive room in the house with doors opening to the landscaped city-size garden (with fruit trees, sandstone paving and brick barbecue).

A skylight makes the area particularly bright.

The floor here is travertine marble and the kitchen worktops are an unusual grey-green granite, including the island that divides the room.

Off the kitchen is a long utility room with lots of storage and a Belfast sink on porcelain legs.

Upstairs there is a spacious bathroom on the first return with a large walk-in shower and cast-iron bath.

There is a double bedroom to the rear of the house and another to the front, both with good fitted wardrobes.

A single bedroom also looks out to the front garden, trees on the pavement and the street beyond.

Lansdowne Road: €1.4m: 73 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4 is a mock Tudor-style two-bedroom house on the Sandymount side of Lansdowne Road and will be auctioned by Lisney with a guide of €1.4 million on September 20th.

Living space stretches to 133sq m (1,426sq ft) and, while it is in very good order throughout, new owners are likely to wish to update the decoration.

Opposite the grounds of the Irish Rugby Football Union, it is protected from the street by mature planting and wrought iron gates, behind which is generous off-street car-parking.

The charm of this house lies in its situation within walking distance of the city centre (or the Dart from the station at the end of the road) and a cosy layout reminiscent of a cottage.

The reception hall has hardwood flooring that runs through most of the ground floor and opens into the lounge and dining area to the right. This is a generously-sized room with gas fire and leads to an octagonal wood conservatory with window seating.

Off the dining area is the kitchen, a compact space but with the advantage that it it is easy to work in.

A door here opens to the rear garden. It has a tall bank of trees making it very private.

Also on the ground floor is a bedroom that was recently converted to a large shower room. Its floor and walls are clad in travertine marble but it could be changed back to a bedroom without too much difficulty.

The hall stairs leads to a bright landing and the main bedroom, which has a window overlooking the garden, good storage and an en suite shower room.

Next to it is the main bathroom and beyond that the second bedroom. This accommodation could easily be maintained by an older resident who does not want the work involved in keeping a large house or, alternatively, those with careers that don't allow for time-consuming domestic chores but would prefer a house to an apartment.