Donnybrook: Bernice Harrison visits a coachouse that was built in the 1800s but converted to residential use in the 1980s. The spacious two-bedroom home is up for auction on November 19th with a guide of €585,000.

Marlborough Lodge is a mews built in the garden of a Ranelagh Road house and accessed down a short cul de sac on Marlborough Lane, off Marlborough Road.

It was originally a coachouse built around the 1800s and was converted into a two-bedroom house in the 1980s.

Marlborough Lodge will be auctioned by Sherry FitzGerald on November 19th with a guide of €585,000.

This mews would be ideal for someone trading down from a larger house, as it is private, quaintly atmospheric and, as it has only a small patio to the front, it brings none of the gardening headaches that come with larger houses.

In this case the owner is trading up to a larger house in the area. The mews has 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft).

The two-storey house is hidden away behind a tall wall and wooden gates at the end of the cul de sac.

Inside, there are two rooms downstairs, a livingroom to the left off the hall and a large eat-in kitchen to the right. The staircase opens into the kitchen area.

The house was extended in recent years when a decent-sized conservatory was added off the kitchen/diningroom.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms, both doubles with smart looking built-in wardrobes.

The larger of the two bedrooms has a good en suite bathroom and there is also a separate showerroom that is decorated with the same good taste that is a feature of the main rooms in the house.

As it was built relatively recently, there are no original period features as such although the owner has been careful to create a period atmosphere in the downstairs rooms with decorative period fireplaces in both rooms as well as polished floorboards and two round windows are a common feature of old coach houses.