What a difference a year makes

A family home on Blackrock's Frascati Park is back on the market at €1.4 million after a major makeover. Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor, reports.

A four-bedroom terraced house in Blackrock, Co Dublin that has been given a thorough makeover since it last came on the market 10 months ago, carries an advised minimum value (AMV) of €1.4 million prior to auction through Douglas Newman Good on February 9th.

Property investor Therese Quinn bought 8 Frascati Park last spring for €850,000 - a strong price at the time given that the house needed complete refurbishment.

Quinn teamed up with John Devlin, a builder and project manager who has been involved in a number of southside renovations over the last 10 years.

The result is an impeccable refurbishment that's a cut above the quick turnaround jobs being executed by fledgling builders all over the city. Overall finishes are of the highest quality - nothing has been skimped.

The 167sq m (1,800sq ft) double-fronted house has been virtually rebuilt from the façade - this allowed for a new interior layout that includes a wider hallway, a new staircase and a fabulous kitchen extension that spans the back of the house. There's an additional 18sq m (200sq ft) in the floored attic.

It's the kind of house that will tick most of the boxes for affluent couples who want an old house in a smart neighbourhood but who don't want to renovate.

Frascati Park winds from Mount Merrion Avenue around to the Blackrock by-pass at the bottom of George's Avenue.

Number 8 backs onto the Frascati shopping centre where Roches Stores is seeking planning permission to expand in the face of stiff opposition from the local residents. However, mature trees at the end of the garden of this house screen the centre to some extent.

Beyond the front door, a neat room to the left of the hall will be a study or office and houses the integrated sound system. On the other side of the hall is the livingroom with its square bay window, polished oak floor and double doors leading through to a huge, eat-in kitchen with wall-to-wall sliding doors to the garden, a vast island unit, and a pale tiled floor with underfloor heating. Steps from the hallway lead up to a spacious toilet. Upstairs the four bedrooms - the main en suite - are decorated in an appealing minimalist style.

Off-street parking for at least two cars completes the package.

John Devlin estimates the cost of the building work at €350,000, not including his time and the savings from trade discounts. "It's €500,000 if you take that into account."

For a virtual tour click on nicemove.ie.