£1.8m-plus expected for imposing period home on Ailesbury Road

A large Victorian semi-detached house on Ailesbury Road that last came on the market 37 years ago is expected to make over £1.8 million when it is auctioned by Sherry FitzGerald later this month. Number 3 Ailesbury Road is a substantial redbrick located close to the junction with Merrion Road, two doors away from St Michael's School. Built in the 1860s, it is an impressive family home with almost 4,000 sq. ft of living space and very fine cornice work throughout.

Simon Ensor, who is handling the sale, expects the house to be bought as a family home, although several foreign governments currently seeking embassy residences in Dublin 4 may be interested in the property.

The last house to sell on Ailesbury Road, Number 23, was viewed by both the Chinese and the British governments, both of which are seeking embassy residences at present. That house was snapped up for around £2.1 million after auction - by an investor who already owns a house on the road. Number 3 may also appeal to investors who might consider having a house on Ailesbury Road a better option than keeping their money in the bank. That has certainly been the case over the last decade. At the beginning of the 1990s, Ailesbury Road red-bricks changed hands for under £500,000. Now the entry level is around £2 million. Number 3 is just across the road from the Swiss Embassy and has a superb 100 ft long front garden with ample off street parking on a wide gravel drive.

The main doorway is up an elegant flight of steps and leads into an impressive L-shaped hall with curved mahogany stairs leading to the upper floor. To the left of the hall are the two principal interconnecting reception rooms, a drawing room and dining room, that together span over 30 ft. The drawing room has an impressive white marble chimney-piece but what strikes one here is the very ornate ceiling with elaborate ivy leaf cornices. The plaster-work is in very good condition and looks as though it has hardly been touched since the house was built in the 1870s.

The same ivy leaf cornicing features in the hall and on each of the upper and lower landings. There is a third reception room at hall level - a comfortable sitting room with a tall sash window overlooking the garden. The kitchen is at the back of the hall, although it would once have been at garden level. The lower level is currently laid out as a self-contained three-bedroom flat with separate access at the side of the house. There is also a lavatory and shelved pantry in the rear hall. The first of the bedrooms is on the first return, where there is also a lavatory. There are four further bedrooms and a family bathroom on the upper floor and returns.

While the house appears to be in good structural order it does need redecoration, according to Mr Ensor, and new owners will probably reorganise the layout to allow for a kitchen and living room at garden level. The 80 ft long back garden faces south and is bounded by old granite walls and backs on to a cluster of smaller houses that were built many years ago.

Number 3 Ailesbury Road will be auctioned on May 26th.