A one-bed apartment - or this North Strand cottage for €270,000?

Dating from the mid-1800s this one-bed cottage requires total renovation. Purchased in the mid-1960s, and now an executor sale, it provides an alternative proposition to one-bed apartments near the IFSC which currently sell for €265,000-€295,000.

The layout allows for one bedroom, a living room and kitchen, while there is also a narrow staircase leading to a study, that in turn leads out to a roof garden.

Under the practised eye of a good architect this property could be completely transformed from something of a rough diamond to a cool period conversion.

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20 Newcomen Avenue North Strand Dublin 3

It would make sense to switch the bedroom to the current living room and open the kitchen into the new living space – which would give the room a dual aspect. In addition, the study overhead could be opened up to provide a mezzanine and allow a better use of light and space.

The small roof garden, which at present is accessed through a window could also be developed into a green space.

Around the corner from the property is Mud Island – mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses – now a community garden developed in conjunction with Dublin City Council.

It will require at least €40,000 to upgrade the property; there is rising damp and though Ber exempt, it has a low rating of G.

What the property does offer, besides a city centre location, is a period house with high ceilings, access to a communal garden and the potential to have bundles of charm compared to many of the soul-less apartments on offer in the city centre.

The cottage at 20 Newcomen Avenue, which measures just 49sq m (531sq ft), is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €270,000.