Ranelagh - 86 Sandford Road

People will be keen to view 86 Sandford Road because a detached period house of this size is a rarity in Ranelagh. But they will stay to admire the wonderfully stylish interior created by the owners' daughter, Isabel Morton, who specialises in restoring period houses.

Lisney is guiding a conservative £800,000-plus for this five-bedroom house, which will be auctioned on May 5th . The quarter-acre of garden bordering the playing fields of Muckross Park school alone should push the price closer, or beyond the £1 million mark. The creeper-clad redbrick has been home to the Mortons for almost half a century and the house has a happy feel to it. Paint finishes throughout the house are unusual and often startling, but a unifying theme of soft yellow makes it work.

Two very elegant rooms, a morning room and a bay-windowed drawing-room, are at the front of the house. These have period fireplaces and connecting doors open up to create space for entertaining. A railed staircase leads down to a dramatic flame-coloured dining-room, which has a door to the kitchen. Another door opens to a flagged terrace and the back garden. In summer, the dining-room window is overhung by an old orange blossom tree.

The large kitchen has a range of solid alder units with granite work-tops curved at one end to make a breakfast bar area. Appliances include an American-style steel fridge/freezer and an unusual glass extractor fan.

Family meals are taken in the wide bay window area, which overlooks the garden. There is a cosy study/den beside the kitchen and a utility area with an adjoining cloakroom. The bathroom on the first floor return has been decorated with mosaic tiles and a free-standing bath with gold-painted claw feet. Through an archway there is a step-in double shower. Also on this landing is a large single with an en suite shower room.

The main bedroom is on the first floor overlooking the back garden. This has a timber surround fireplace and an en suite power shower. A guest bedroom at the front of the house also has an en suite shower room. Next to this, there is a child's dream bedroom, with constellations of silver stars sprayed on to purple walls. On the top landing, there is a double bedroom and en suite with sloping ceilings and access to the attic. The well-stocked back garden is bordered by mature trees. There are high hedges to the front and gravelled parking for three or four cars.

Malahide - 6 Windsor Terrace

Church Road is considered to be the best address in Malahide and the six stucco-fronted semi-detached Victorian houses that make up Windsor Terrace, at the village end of the road, are the most attractive homes on it. Lisney agent David Blanc barely remembers when the last of these came on the market - he says it was "many, many years ago" - so there should be very strong interest in Number 6, which will be auctioned on May 12th.

It is the last house of the row, beside St Andrew's School, and it has a superb back garden. A two-storey over garden level house, it currently has three fine reception rooms and five bedrooms. There is off-street parking for up to six cars and potential to build on at the side of the house. Lisney are joint agents in the sale with Douglas Newman Good, where Conor Gallagher is handling inquiries. The guide price is £850,000-plus at present, but this is likely to rise towards £1 million in the coming weeks.

Built in 1850, Windsor Terrace is very similar to St James Terrace, on Clonskeagh Road, Dublin 6, where a house needing refurbishment sold for close to £1.5 million at auction last month. Number 6 is a fine family home with a flexible layout that could be easily adapted to provide a self-contained apartment or offices at garden level.

The elegant hallway has ornate plaster cornicing and an archway leading to the inner hall. The drawing-room, to the front of the house, is a large, airy room with two tall windows overlooking the front garden and an impressive marble fireplace. Across the hall is a second large reception room. The kitchen is also at this level and has spacious seating around a period fireplace. Next door, is a utility room with access to the back garden, and a shower room. There are three large bedrooms upstairs, the main one with a large en suite bathroom.

The garden level has the original kitchen, a sitting-room, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a cellar.

The walled back garden is in three sections and includes a large area of lawn.