Large houses in the best areas of Monkstown are some of the most sought-after homes in south Dublin. Below, an elegant house on Richmond Hill charms Jane Powers while a large period home on Belgrave Square West beguiles Rose Doyle and ???? reports on a pristine house onBelgrave Terrace

RichmondHill: €2.35m-plus

Number 3 Richmond Hill is a fine three-storey over basement house in one of Monkstown's more exclusive areas, off Carrickbrennan Road.

Originally laid out in the first half of the 19th century, the steep road, with its elegant semi-detached houses, was for over 100 years home to various members of the Quaker community.

The Friends Meeting House is just a brisk minute's walk downhill on the corner of Pakenham Road. Nowadays, the road's best-known resident is probably fashion designer Paul Costelloe.

Number 3, a creamy semi-detached south-east-facing house and its refurbished mews, goes to auction on September 29th with a guide price of €2.35 million-plus through joint agents HOK Residential and Hassett & Fitzsimons.

Richmond Hill is unusual in that the houses are built along one side of the road only, so they are not overlooked from the front. Next to number 3, a pair of apartment blocks is the only modern part of an otherwise wholly 19th century enclave.

Inside, the house is bright and airy. Most of the rooms are naturally elegant, and refreshingly free from ostentatious over-opulence. The ornate plasterwork, elaborate window cases (with working shutters) and original fireplaces need no augmentation.

Both drawingroom and diningroom are large rooms, perfect for entertaining. The former is especially light, having both a bay window and a side window. On the return below this level, a room which was at one time a kitchen is now used as a workroom.

The kitchen itself is at garden level, and is a friendly country-style space, with painted cupboards, timber worktops and a Rayburn range. Double doors lead to a comfortable family room at the front of the house. A small study and various minor rooms make up the rest of this floor.

The upper levels of the house contain four bedrooms. While the main bedroom (above the drawingroom) is spacious and grand, perhaps the most appealing is the one situated in splendid isolation on the topmost floor. It enjoys an eagle's eye view of Dublin Bay from Ringsend to Howth, and adjoins a large, private roof terrace at the front of the house.

A separate mews has been recently renovated in a contemporary manner, all white walls and clean lines. There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, the larger one opening onto a raised patio (with hot tub).

Upstairs there is an open-plan living space with a timber-beamed ceiling. The kitchen area has a covetable five-ring Smeg cooker and a brushed stainless steel American-style fridge.

The back garden, which descends at a moderate gradient, seems to go on forever - although it is in fact 76 metres. Gravel and paving near the house give way to a vegetable garden, flower borders, lawns, soft fruit enclosure and espaliered pear and apple trees.

At the very end there is another paved area and a greenhouse. A hop over the wall and across a little stream brings one into the garden of the Monkstown parish priest's house.

BelgraveSquareWest: €2.2m

Number 42 Belgrave Square West, Monkstown, Co Dublin has a bright, spacious elegance. Built in the 1850s, its 464 sq m (5,000 sq ft) of space has been renovated to make a home with six bedrooms and four reception rooms. Douglas Newman Good expect over €2.2 million at auction on September 30th.

Semi-detached, it's three storeys over garden level. Granite steps between cast-iron railings lead to the front door. Original features are everywhere, including shutters, plasterwork and original fireplaces, and high ceilings are a feature throughout.

An enclosed porch and inner door with pink-hued glass inset leads to the reception hall. A front drawingroom has a deep, shuttered bay window overlooking the square. Overhead, on the first floor, the main livingroom has a pair of sash windows and a Connemara marble fireplace. The ground floor diningroom has a recessed window in three sections overlooking the rear garden. The kitchen has double glass doors to the rear garden and Shaker-style fittings in beech. The worktops are of polished granite.

On the first floor return there is a bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom is painted a pale ochre with white woodwork. A second bedroom, off the first floor landing, has a Connemara marble fireplace. A smallish room to the front is used as a study while a third bedroom, on the second floor return, has small side windows with deep sills. The main bathroom, also on this return, is an airy room lit by a Velux. A fifth bedroom, attic-like on the top floor, has windows with an arch design feature giving views which stretch from Howth to Dún Laoghaire. A walk-in wardrobe has hanging rails and shelving. To the rear there is a sixth bedroom with cast-iron fireplace and tree top views from a pair of three windows.

The ground floor level has a sittingroom with bay window and off it a walk-in dressingroom leading to a shower room. A bedroom has a separate shower room with wash-hand basin and toilet. Off the rear part of an L-shaped corridor there is another toilet with wash-hand basin.

A glass door leads to the rear garden where the patio has been surfaced.