Hillbrook, a two-storey house on an acre at Ballywaltrim Lane, Kilcroney, Bray, is very aptly named. Perched at the top of a hillside, it overlooks gardens that cascade steeply down to a magical stream, Holy Brook, that bounds two sides of the property. The 50-year-old, three-bedroom home goes to auction on May 12th. Walter Sweetman of the agents, Jackson-Stops McCabe, is suggesting a guide price between £400,000 and £450,000.

Ballywaltrim Lane is a narrow, winding, country road lined with wood garlic and other wild flowers. Surprisingly, it is just minutes from the busy N11 dual carriageway on one side and Bray town centre.

The owners are keen gardeners and the sloping property is arranged in terraces and steeply-graded lawn that descend to a dappled woodland area by the stream. Here there are many choice trees and shrubs including rhododendrons, tree-sized camellias and a massive, mounded Persian ironwood which turns fiery colours in autumn. Bamboos and gunnera (the giant rhubarb) border the stream, while the woodland floor is peppered with wild garlic, wood sorrel and anemones. In all, there are about 150 trees on the acre, including birches, deodar cedars and an elegant copper beech.

The hall door is on the north-facing side of the house, but all the rooms, except for the kitchen, are resolutely focused towards the south and are delightfully warm and bright. Windows throughout are sizeable, drawing one like a magnet to the wonderful vista of the green and leafy garden outside.

On the ground floor, the diningroom and living room occupy an interconnected Lshaped space with a door at either end, allowing for maximum circulation. The dining area has a generous semi-circular bay window giving excellent views. The livingroom, meanwhile, has a French door onto a patio terrace. A discreet fireplace with a minimal brass surround and teak mantel shelf are indicative of the unfussy, simple style that dominates the house.

THE kitchen has an adjoining pantry and access to a side yard with a fuel store, outside lavatory and potting shed. The new owners may wish to extend the kitchen to a more family-sized space, and there is plenty of room to do so. Also on this floor are a lovely south-facing study and a lavatory with an understairs storage area.

Upstairs, there are three bright bedrooms, a hot press, a bathroom and a separate lavatory. There are views from the bedrooms of both the Sugarloaf mountains and Carrigoona. The bathroom is a set-piece of 1950s decor - and right back in fashion again. Tiled in pale sea-green and Jerseycream yellow, it has a capacious, matching green bath and hand basin.

The property also has a double garage and workshop. A service-pit and a half-ton winch and pulley are evidence of one of the owner's fascination with vintage cars.

The Croft, Parcnasilla, Shankill forms part of an unexpected near-rural parcel of land close to St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown. The four-bedroom home was built about 50 years ago in the grounds of Parcnasilla House, and its gate is halfway along the beech-lined drive of the big house, a property which retains a substantial amount of undeveloped land.

The Croft includes 1.3 acres of gardens and is bordered on one side by a modern housing estate - well-screened by a dense 16-foot- high privet hedge. The old Harcourt Street railway line, now a wildlife corridor, runs along another boundary while numerous mature trees lend an air of seclusion.

The property goes to auction on May 6th, through Jackson-Stops McCabe. The agency is quoting a guideline of £440,000 plus.

THE Croft's drive is planted with many beautiful shrubs and trees. Gardeners will be impressed by the excellent garrya hung with silver grey tassels and the sophora bearing masses of yellow pea-like flowers. An enormous lawn, nearly an acre in size, is closely mown and dotted with specimen trees. Behind the house there are interesting mixed borders, and a large and productive vegetable garden.

In front of the house there is room to park several cars, and a double garage to one side has automatic up-and-over doors. A small yard has a potting shed off it.

The house itself has most of its accommodation on the ground floor, with a bedroom suite in the upper, dormer floor. The hall door, protected by a glazed porch, faces northeast. However, almost all of the rooms have a southeast or southwest aspect, with views of the gardens at the side or rear.

The drawingroom occupies a corner position at the rear of the house. There are two windows along one side and a timberframed conservatory along the other. Sliding double doors lead into the dining room, where a glazed door, also sliding, gives access to a large, sunny and sheltered patio. Another door leads to a back hallway, and off this is a long room, currently used as a bedroom. The kitchen - which may be reached from this hallway, and the front hall also - is another long room with a blue Aga tucked in one corner.

There are two double bedrooms on the other side of the house, both with fitted wardrobes and big windows looking out onto the expansive, chequered lawn. A bathroom and separate lavatory are nearby.

Upstairs in the eaves of the house is a bathroom, a sizeable double bedroom and an adjoining nursery or dressingroom. The attic has plenty of space, for a similar conversion.