Ranelagh three-bed in turn-key condition for €1.15m

Houses on Cherryfield Avenue were built in about 1910 for civil servants and office workers, who paid in the region of £210 for what were then modest enough three-bedroom homes. By the time 1947 came, prices for these houses were about £3,200 and by 1998 they changed hands for £300,000 or so.

The current owners of No 17 paid €407,500 for their home in 2012. "It really was a doer-upper, as it did not have any heating," says the owner. After spending a year in the house, which was then "freezing", they engaged the services of then architect Dawn Howard, now principal at DigiCreatiV, the fine-art printing service in Sligo, who worked in collaboration with architect Desmond Collins.

The entire house was then replumbed, rewired, insulated and a new heating system installed. A double-height extension was added to the rear, which gives a large kitchen/dining/living area that opens via concertina doors to the rear garden. "When the doors were being installed, one of the builders asked: 'Where do you think you live? California?' but they are amazing and are open from May to October. We were delighted that we used The Folding Door Company, as we haven't had a bit of bother with them."

Upstairs gained a full double bedroom which is now used as the principal because of the verdant views to Milltown Park, which lies beyond the walls of the rear garden, and it has a Juliet balcony. Two further bedrooms – including the former principal which has two large windows to the front – are on the first floor and the attic, which was converted in 2016, is currently used as a fourth bedroom.

Two interconnecting formal rooms lie to the front of the house, both of which have original fireplaces. The Nolan kitchen set in the extension spans the width of the house and garage, and is heated underfoot beneath limestone flooring. This area is accessed from a well-thought-out utility (as well as from the main hall), which the owner says is one of her favourite rooms in the house.

And with three children under five you can understand the need for a room that not only hides all the accoutrements (as does the garage) of a family of five, but it also has a specially designed double drying press. Executed by carpenter Brendan Kavanagh, this is open at the top and benefits from light and heat from the Velux overhead, so the family's laundry literally dries overnight, negating the use of a tumble dryer.

The rear garden was designed by landscaper Ross Farrell of Greenstone, whose brief was "a smooth transition between the kitchen and patio, and a country feel". It is now perfectly streamlined so when the concertina doors are fully open, there is a great flow between the garden and the house.

The garage is a decent size and could be converted to give more liveable space, or indeed be built upon to give an en suite upstairs, subject to planning.

The owners, who have been in their 160sq m (1,722sq ft) home for a decade, are moving to another doer-upper in the area, and have placed their home, which is in turn-key condition and has a BER of B3, on the market through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €1.15 million.