Househunters looking for that perfect old house to renovate should bear in mind that the best restoration dramas are usually in four acts. The first is when you discover all the expensive horrors you managed to overlook while you oohed and aahed over cornices; the second and most sanity-testing part of the drama is when the work happens; the third is when you nearly give up and the fourth, hopefully, is the happy ending.

The length of time this takes depends, usually, on money. For Coca-Cola executive Caroline Moran and her husband, Robert Murray, a businessman, the restoration of their house at 61 Leinster Road into a fourbedroom home took nearly 10 years, but the end result should inspire anyone who is thinking of taking on one of these old houses.

They bought the 3,200 sq ft two-storey over basement house in Rathmines in 1991 for £95,000. Besides needing all the basics such as rewiring and replumbing, it didn't even have an indoor bathroom. They installed one in the first floor return, so the house now has a large, dramatic bathroom with a free-standing bath and period fixtures and fittings and a modern shower.

"We picked up lots of things in antiques shops, such as the ornate fittings," says Robert, "It's the new things that really cost, which no one ever notices, such as the shower door that cost £1,000".

A priority was to have rooms that they could live in and enjoy, so the interconnecting reception rooms were done next. Nothing major was required as the rooms had their marble fireplaces and plasterwork, so they decorated in period style and added details such as mahogany and brass radiator covers. A fitted kitchen was installed in the hall floor return.

The hall required the least amount of work and, unusually, has glazed mahogany internal doors, which were added some time in the 1920s.

By contrast, large sums were spent on structural work, with £12,000 sunk into the roof, and the entire brick front repointed. Once that work was complete, the couple tackled the main bedroom, a superb room that runs the full width of the house and has a grand marble fireplace. Here, they enlisted the help of David Skinner - the Celbridge based craftsman who reproduces Irish wallpapers from the Georgian and Victorian eras. He supplied the rich yellow paper that contrasts so strikingly with the deep ceiling cornices.

The couple's overall plan was to do work only when they could afford to do it well, so early on they made the big decision to leave the basement until the major work it needed could be done. Seven years after they bought the house, they finally got the builders in. And £50,000 later, the garden level is a bright, potentially self-contained area with two large rooms, one smaller room and a bathroom. They also had the plumbing and electrics installed in case they decided to do the traditional thing and move the kitchen down to the basement.

The final part of the job was off-street parking to the front, and landscaping the long garden. They also removed the render off the back of the house to expose the granite walls.

After 10 years of work the house has four bedrooms, and three reception rooms, an overall floor area of 3,200 sq ft, as well as the usual mod cons and impressive period details. But for the grim "before" pictures, it is hard to believe it was ever any other way. The couple plan to move to a house in the suburbs which, not surprisingly, is completely renovated because, as most people who have been through the trials and tribulations of renovation, they say "never again".

Sherry FitzGerald will auction 61 Leinster Road on October 25th. The guide price is £800,000.