Few houses - particularly in Dublin 4 - come on the market with the site for a house next door included in the sale.

Donard, at 12 Argyle Road, in Ballsbridge, is a large double-fronted redbrick house solidly built by Cramptons in the 1930s. It extends to 3,300 sq ft and stands on around half an acre of gardens.

The guide price is £2.65 million (#3.36m) and the house is due to be auctioned by Sherry FitzGerald on May 31st.

The high guide price is partly explained by the large side gardens, where Number 14 was meant to be built. The site provides scope to significantly extend the six-bedroom house or to construct an additional home, subject to planning permission.

The house has a lawn to the front and a pedestrian gate leading to the front porch. Hidden within the hedge are double wrought-iron gates which were originally used for a drive-in - leading to the possibility of off-street parking being reinstated.

The house is in need of upgrading. It has a large number of well-proportioned rooms and looks over Herbert Park to the rear. It has a sunny, often leafy, aspect and has a hard tennis court at the back.

The large hallway is very much at the centre of the house. To the left is a diningroom with a three-window bay and a fireplace. This is a high-ceilinged room with attractive mouldings.

A passage runs off the other side of the hall, with doors to the drawingroom and also to a book-lined study. The drawingroom has a three window bay and a fireplace.

Across the passage, the study has a small bay window, with a wooden mantelpiece surrounding the fireplace, and built in bookshelves.

At the other side of the main hall is a livingroom, looking out over the back of the garden. This, the smallest of the three main reception rooms, also has a fireplace.

Next door is the kitchen, a good-sized room with shelves and windows on two sides but in need of modernisation. Off this room is a store room, leading into the garden.

A staircase leads from the hall up to the main landing. Four bedrooms run directly off it, two of which are very large double rooms. Another is a smaller double, while the fourth room is a large single. On the return is a fifth bedroom, also a double. Also at this level is a family bathroom.

Another staircase leads up to the next floor, where there is a further double bedroom and a modern bathroom. Easy access is provided to a floored attic with obvious potential for use other than storage. The bedrooms have fireplaces, ceiling mouldings and windows on two sides, while some have views over Herbert Park.

The gardens run to the back and side of the house and consist mainly of lawn and shrubbery, with the tennis court along the wall by the park.