Two dated properties packed with potential

40 Whitehall Road, Dublin 6W, €650,000

Whitehall Road is just a five-minute walk from Kimmage Crossroads (KCR) and features a mix of period red-brick semis and more recent 1930s bungalows with large gardens. Number 40 is one of the latter. Situated on a corner site with Whitehall Gardens, the house has a 95-ft south-facing rear with vehicular gate access.

The double-bay fronted pebble-dashed property is situated about 40 feet back from the road, with a couple of mature cherry blossom trees awaiting a break in the weather to show any signs of spring decorating the front.

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1 Woodbine Park, Blackrock: has a sizeable rear garden

The house has nine foot ceiling height throughout and a good sized formal dining room to the front, a room that is under utilised presently. Across the hall is a smaller sitting room with an open fire. There is an eat-in kitchen to the rear with a door opening out to the garden. Two of the property’s double bedrooms are on the ground floor; one has direct garden access via sliding doors.

The house needs some modernisation but its real charm lies in the potential to extend out the back and make the most of the garden’s southwest aspect. A creative architect could reimagine the footprint so that you could better enjoy the peaceful suburban setting which has views of the mountains.

The master bedroom is upstairs and has a shower en suite and a small walk-in wardrobe.

There is vehicular access to the back from Whitehall Gardens. While the idea of going for planning permission to build a second property in the garden is tempting, getting that permission will be challenging because of the street’s building line, cautions Ciarán McCoy, partner in ODKM Architects. “Good design and sitting down with the planners would help to understand what might fulfil their criteria.”

The house which measures 124sq metres (1,335sq ft) is asking €650,000 through agents DNG, which last July sold number 24, a five-bed semi-detached property in need of complete refurbishment for €680,000.

Number 105 Whitehall Road, a similar style of bungalow but bigger in size, 250sq m (2,691sq ft), with a 100ft south-facing garden, is asking €750,000 through Lowe.

1 Woodbine Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin, €695,000

Woodbine Park is a mature road off Booterstown Avenue that takes the estate agent selling term, “close to all amenities” quite literally. Three doors up from number one, a three-bedroom detached bungalow dating from the 1950s, is a suite of old-fashioned shops that includes a convenience store, a post office, a neighbourhood hair salon and a crafter’s café called Winnies with seating outside. Across the road is a doctor’s surgery. What more does one need?

The current layout needs a bit of a rethink but the house offers great potential to anyone looking for a project. The rooms to the front, a good size lounge and adjoining diningroom are, like the master bedroom, facing south and sunny throughout the day.

Asking €695,000 through DNG, the Ber E2 rated house was once a four-bedroom property but over time the small box room, adjacent to the master bedroom was turned into a shower room. It would make sense to turn this bathroom into an en suite.

Internally the house measures 129sq m (1388sq ft) but there is an additional 12sq metres of space in the garage and the same amount again in various outhouses that could, under the watchful eye of a good architect, be put to better use. These rooms overlook the north-facing back garden measuring 22 m wide by 13 m deep.

The attic could also be explored. It has a ceiling height of space that measures about three metres high.

“The construction cost of a decent refurbishment that included a new roof, new windows and insulation will be such that it could be more economical to knock down the existing structure and rebuild if you want a high-performance energy efficient house,” cautions Vincent Traynor of Booterstown-based JSA Architects.

“You might also get a second floor on to the property,” Traynor says.

According to the Property Price Register number 15 Woodbine Avenue, a semi-detached property close by, sold for €715,000 last September. Nearby number 61 Woodbine Road, a five-bedroom semi, sold for €825,000. Number 5 Woodbine Avenue, a three-bedroom semi, sold for €680,000