Rich potential in faded house on Palmerston

Dublin 6: €2.5mBuyers won't be deterred by a dilapidated house on one of D6's most desirable roads, says Bernice Harrison.

The estate agent's photographer was somewhat optimistic if he thought that using the old trick of lighting a fire in the rather grand, though faded, room would make it more homely.

It's the photographic equivalent of the having the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the house, but in this case, a more informative picture would have featured a wheelbarrow full of money.

The house at 69 Palmerston Road, which is for auction through Douglas Newman Good on September 22nd, needs total renovation from top to bottom to make it a comfortable family home.

As it is a two-storey over garden level with 294sq m (3,165sq ft) it's rather a large project to take on.

Not that that, or indeed the pre-auction price tag of €2.5 million, is going to put all those buyers who look on this leafy road as the premier road in Dublin 6 off in any way.

But they will have to be prepared to see far beyond the horrible aluminium porch doors to the day when they'll be putting the galvanised planters filled with carefully clipped bay trees on either side of the front door - a feature very much in vogue with the newer owners on the street.

It's an executor's sale and the house appears to have been largely untouched in recent years, which is good news for the new owners because just about all the original features are intact, including the matching white marble fireplaces in the reception rooms and highly decorative cornicework. Even the butler's pantry at hall level is as it was in Victorian times, with its floor-to-ceiling shelves and cupboards and a pretty sink.

These charming features will have obvious appeal but the real attraction in this house is its potential. As a semi- detached house it's certainly larger than many on the road and there is an unusually wide side access area as well as 26m-long back garden with rear access to a vehicular lane.

Also, down at garden level, where new owners will probably knock through to create a kitchen and a couple of other family rooms, there's plenty of space and more importantly, the ceilings are a good height.

At hall door level there are two grand-scale interconnecting reception rooms, the one to the front slightly larger than the back room. There's also the aforementioned butler's pantry. Upstairs there are four double bedrooms and a small bathroom at the top of the house in the return.

There are several rooms down at garden level and there's access to the front garden under the granite steps.