Dublin 6/€1.25 million: A period home off the Appian Way has a gracious atmosphere and a considerable extension, writes Bernice Harrison.

Houses on Leeson Park Avenue are very well located - just off Appian Way, with Ranelagh village on one side, and a stroll into Stephen's Green on the other.

The houses, mostly Victorian, are a mixture of styles, and one of the larger ones, a two-storey over basement, is now for auction on April 22nd through Jackson Stops with a guide of €1.25 million.

The owner is involved in the art world and one of his requirements is a large, light-filled studio so in 1990, six years after the family moved in, a very large addition was built at the back. It's a three-storey extension with a further single storey part and, as well as making room for a bedroom and a bathroom, it was primarily built as an artist's studio.

The house has a gracious atmosphere with a good, wide hall and two interconnecting reception rooms with feature period fireplaces.

There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. One of these is the 1990 addition and it is large and well-appointed.

The other, at the top of the house in the back return, is in need of work.

In the basement area there are two principal rooms. The kitchen is to the front and there are French windows opening out into the front garden as well as access to the basement area under the steps.

The back room opens into the back garden and it's likely that new owners will do work down here, certainly updating the kitchen but probably knocking through the two rooms to make one large family kitchen.

If new owners are not artistically inclined they could fit out the double height artist's studio - which has a roomy mezzanine - as a really spacious modern kitchen.

The back garden naturally suffered when the extension was built but despite its small size it has a charming atmosphere and there is pedestrian access from it to a lane at the back.

Overall the house has 226 sq m (2,420 sq ft).