Rathgar period with contemporary feel for €1.7m

Dublin 6: Back on the market for the secnod time in as many years is a detached four-bedroom house with a smart contemporary interior at 11 Winton Avenue in Rathgar.

Sherry FitzGerald is seeking offers over €1.7 million for the house which is for sale by private treaty. When it failed to sell at auction two years ago, the owner decided to rent, and it has been occupied by a couple every since.

Located at the Rathgar end of the Rathgar Road, which links Rathmines to Rathgar village, the handsome two-storey redbrick is one of a handful of distinctive villa-style houses. The house has two reception rooms along with a kitchen cum livingroom. It was refurbished to a lavish degree two years ago,and is in excellent condition.

The house is symmetrical from the outside - two windows on either side of steps leading to a smart front door - and this carries through to the internal layout.

Off the hall are a drawing and diningroom of the same size. While not large, they are a good, cosy size. Both have marble fireplaces with iron surrounds.

Up a few steps is a small landing. To the left is the study or bedroom one and to the right is the kitchen. Here too is a utility room. The kitchen is one of the best rooms in the house and has been extended to include two slender roof windows that run to the top of the vaulted room's apex. Lighting is hidden behind the walls so that it shines up onto the sloped ceiling. Double doors open to a balcony.

The floor is cherrywood as are the quality kitchen units that have black granite worktops. An island sits in the centre of the U-shaped units. The Neff oven is gas-powered.

Downstairs a set of doors open into the garden with circular patio area to one side. Two large bedrooms face onto this garden. The master bedroom is the most impressive and is more a suite than a room.

It is beneath the kitchen and, where the new extension upstairs houses a living area, downstairs it makes space for a dressing area and bay window.

Both walls here are lined with fitted wardrobes. The bed sits in the other side of the room in front of a free-standing wall. Behind this wall - accessible from two sides - is a bathroom. And what a bathroom!

With pale travertine marble flooring and walls it is a bathroom to spend hours in. The fittings are excellent: a white Philippe Starck bath sits at an angle at one end of the large room (remember shadows one of the reception rooms upstairs).

Two sinks are set into the travertine counter with heating underneath behind a painted metal grill. An open wet room - or large tiled shower really - fills one corner.

The second bedroom on this level is well-proportioned and also has an abundance of storage. The third bedroom is to the front and is a good size. Beside this is a bathroom with shower and travertine matching that in the main bathroom.

The large gravelled front garden has parking three cars or four cars and, like the garden to the rear, is landscaped with "easy care" planting.