Small and beautiful

An elegant single storey over garden level period house at 7 Sydney Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, is likely to attract a lot of interest when Hamilton Osborne King brings it to auction on September 11th - and could achieve well over the guide price of £180,000. Homes on this quiet, exclusive southside road just a few minutes walk from schools, shopping centres, and the Blackrock DART, have made exceptionally strong prices in the past year. And although number 7 Sydney Avenue is relatively small, it has beautiful period features and a long, sheltered back garden.

The property has all the elegance of a large Georgian residence, but on a smaller scale. Steps lead up past a small front garden to the front door, with its attractive Georgian fanlight. This opens into a good-sized hall with an archway to the back of the house, and two reception rooms on either side. Both the drawingroom and diningroom have cast iron Victorian fireplaces, polished wooden floors, and tall, elegant windows with working shutters. Like the hall, the rooms have curved ceiling cornicing.

There is a bedroom, also with cast iron fireplace, looking onto the back garden at this level, and a small pine-panelled bathroom. The main bedroom, which looks over front and back gardens, is downstairs, as is the kitchen and family room. The hall, kitchen, and family room - which could be a third bedroom - all have quarry-tiled floors. There is a utility room off the kitchen and good under-stairs storage.

The downstairs hall (as well as the utility room) open into a sunny, sheltered approximately 70-foot-long walled back garden, which has a good-sized patio and lawn. There is rear pedestrian access onto George's Avenue. And although the property could well suit a young couple with no family, the garden is a lovely, safe, large play area for young children.

The property has been improved and refurbished by the current owners, who bought it seven years ago: it was re-wired, and gas-fired central heating installed.