Compact two-bedroom houses ideal buy for garden-loving homemakers

Two-bedroom houses are an ideal compromise for house hunters who like the idea of modern apartment living but also want to have a garden and their own front door.

Hamilton Osborne King's Blackrock office has a pair of modern two-bedroom homes on its books. Number 2 Parkside, on Temple Park Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, is a pretty, mid-terrace house built six years ago and in immaculate decorative order. Scheduled for auction on July 14th, it has a guide price of £250,000-plus.

In Dun Laoghaire, an end-of-terrace house in secluded St John's Close is for sale by private treaty at £210,000plus.

Temple Park Avenue is a quiet road off Seapoint Avenue with pretty 1920s houses on both sides and an open park at the top with one-way access from the busy Rock Road. Number 2 Parkside is one of three modern houses just steps away from the park, and within an easy walk of Seapoint DART station and the shops at Blackrock.

Inside, it exudes comfort and elegance. Mostly decorated in shades of cream and white, with polished timber floors and wide windows, it is a bright and appealing house of about 1,200 sq ft.

The spacious sittingroom at the front of the house has a Victorian-style open fireplace that is rarely used, according to the owner, because the central heating does such a good job.

Steps lead down to a small dining area and this opens directly into a compact fitted kitchen with a glazed door leading to the garden. The garden is, in fact, a large patio with a raised bed running right around. There is also a bedroom and a shower room on the ground floor. The top floor is given over to the main bedroom - a big room with a raised area in the bay window that the owners use as a home office. There is a wall of Sliderobes and a surprisingly large en suite bathroom with both a corner bath and a stand-in shower.

Number 3 St John's Close is an end-of-terrace house in a small development off Lower Mounttown Road. It has good-sized gardens to the front and rear, with potential to extend, subject to the necessary planning permission.

The spacious hallway opens into a long livingroom-cum-diningroom with French doors leading to the back garden.

The kitchen is long and galley style with a good range of fitted units and integrated appliances which are to be included in the sale. Upstairs, the larger of the two bedrooms has floor-to-ceiling Sliderobes providing a good deal of storage. The second bedroom has a deep bay window with a window seat. Both rooms share a bathroom.

The back garden has a large area of lawn bounded by raised rockery beds planted with shrubs and climbers.