Old-fashioned charm for £1m

Ingleside, on Brennanstown Road in Carrickmines, is a large, detached family home with three-quarters of an acre of gardens. Built about 100 years ago, it has generously-sized rooms, many of which have light pouring in from more than one side. The three-bedroom, granite and pebble-dash house is being auctioned on July 4th by Sherry FitzGerald, and it carries a guide price of £1 million (€1.27m).

The interior is in need of complete refurbishment, but this will not put off potential buyers, who will wish to put their own stamp on the property. Many period features are intact, and the rooms retain their original proportions. The reception hall is unusually big (12 by 24 feet) and it contains a timber and marble fireplace in one corner. Making it a friendly space in which to welcome guests. There are two good reception rooms to the left, both with Adam-style marble mantels. The rear room is especially elegant, with its south facing bay window, and another window looking west. Across the hall, a study and a smaller room which lead into a single-story extension. This was built in the 1960s and its appearance - both inside and out - is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the house.

It contains a dining room, a kitchen and a toilet. A wood-panelled sunroom has also been added to the rear of the house. It faces south, and has French windows which opens on to a paved courtyard.

There are three bedrooms upstairs. A very roomy en suite bathroom (originally a fourth bedroom) serves the main bedroom, a vast room with a bay window. There is also a family bathroom, with a wonderfully-deep bath and an imposing chrome framework which house the shower. A separate lavatory adjoins.

A lovely old fashioned garden wraps around the house, with lawns, flower borders and a formal lily pond. A Greenhouse contains geraniums and a grape vine. A double garage and a tool shed are nearby. Mature trees ring the property, giving it a sense of seclusion. The house has 40 metres of frontage on Brennanstown Road, and about the same amount on Glenamuck Road, where there is a pedestrian entrance. Obviously some buyers might consider (subject to planning permission) building a second house on the site, which could be accessed from Glenamuck Road.