A rare double fronted house on Wellington Road in Dublin 4 needs lots of TLC, says Property Editor Orna Mulcahy.
The construction industry may be going through a tough time with job losses and site closures, but one sector that is likely to remain busy is domestic renovations, particularly at the upper end of the market where buyers invariably renovate a house from top to bottom.
A large early Victorian house in Ballsbridge going for sale this week will need considerable refurbishment and upgrading to bring it up to 21st century standards.
The two-storey over garden level house at 81 Wellington Road has been owned by the same family for 35 years and is now in a state of gentle decay.
It will be an expensive project, but new owners will eventually have one of the best houses in the neighbourhood along with valuable off-street parking and a large back garden.
Number 81 is just one of two double fronted houses on the fashionable road, which runs between Clyde and Pembroke roads. It will be auctioned by Lisney on November 1st when selling agent Tom Day expects a price in excess of €6.75 million.
At 431sq m (4,693sq ft) it's a sizeable house with beautifully proportioned rooms on either side of the elegant high-ceilinged hallway.
To the right of the hall is a morningroom with double doors leading through to a drawingroom with a tall window looking out over the back garden.
Across the hall, the kitchen is to the front of the house, while a large diningroom decorated in Chinese yellow has a handsomely decorated ceiling.
Afternoon sun flows into a large conservatory addition at the back of the house and from here steps lead down to the granite-walled garden with its patio, wide lawn and curved borders.
The ground floor has a series of rooms that could easily convert back to kitchen and living space.
A handsome staircase rises from the hall to the first landing where a grand doorway, complete with fanlight, leads to a bathroom.
There are five big bright bedrooms upstairs, though one or two of these will end up as bathrooms.
