Restored house with prize-winning gardens

Dun Laoghaire: €1.9mAn end-of-terrace period home has been renovated with great flair inside and out, writes Rose Doyle

The owners of 5 Tivoli Terrace East, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin have used a practical and engaging imagination in the rebuilding and renovation of their early Victorian home. Full of space, light and charm - as well as extension possibilities for the new owner - the vendors admit the house was "falling apart" when they moved in 11 years ago. Work carried out included reversing, polishing and re-laying original floorboards and completely remodelling the rear extension with its kitchen/diningroom and main bedroom. Its Tidy Town prize-winning gardens, with their eclectic and colourful plant life and high walls built with stone from the original gable end, echo the mood indoors.

Double fronted and built originally in 1856, the house is at the end of a terrace of similar homes and has a side entrance. Just a short walk from the centre of Dún Laoghaire, it has three bedrooms, two reception rooms, a large kitchen/diningroom and a floor area of 195sq m (2,100sq ft). Douglas Newman Good will put it to auction on September 21st with an AMV of €1.9 million.

A new owner might want to make use of planning permissions for office use of a front-facing reception room and a 35sq m (380sq ft) studio/office with gas stove at the end of the garden. Behind the studio/office there is a large garage with vehicular access which may, subject to planning permission, be put to commercial use.

The wide entrance hallway has polished floorboards and a typically Victorian arch towards the rear which frames both the stairs climbing to the return and descending to the kitchen. Reception rooms to either side of the hallway are similar, with long windows, deep sills and period fireplaces. The large kitchen/diningroom is all light and has views of the garden. It has an Aga and worktops and flooring of polished timber.

Two of the bedrooms, to the rear on the ground floor, have garden views and fireplaces. A shower room with toilet is painted a cheery lemon colour. The main bedroom is on the first floor return and has a walk-in dressingroom and adjoining bathroom. The ceilings are high and a pair of windows overlook an old apple tree and the rear garden.