A five-bedroom semi-detached house on Highfield Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6, carries a guide price of £950,000 prior to being auctioned by Lisney on July 14th. Edwardian, Stringer-built and of the weathered red brick characteristic of the area, Number 79 is a large, double-fronted family house with a host of well-preserved period features. "A good house for a party" is how the owners describe their house and certainly, the 3,000 sq. ft of space would accommodate a fair-sized reception.

Edwardian houses are thought to be more solidly built than their Victorian predecessors. Proportions are balanced, ceilings generally lower and hallways are not so narrow.

The houses on Highfield Road are set back from the traffic on nicely kept gardens. Few have come up for sale in recent times, so the price realised by this one could set a standard for the area.

A large copper beech tree screens the house from the road. There is a stained-glass front door leading to a wide hallway. To the left is a very pretty study with a mahogany and cast-iron fireplace and classic ceiling coving.

The drawing room has been decorated in period style and walls are a rich green to match the tiles in the mahogany fireplace. The ceiling has deep coving and a box bay window overlooking the front garden. Double doors connect with the formal dining room, which also has a very beautiful mahogany and tile fireplace.

The dining room opens out to a very large conservatory that spans the back of the house.

This is a much used room, with rugs, plants and family photographs creating a comfortable lived-in atmosphere. A dining table here is in constant use winter and summer, according to the owners. The kitchen, which also connects with the conservatory, has a good range of modern units and a cast-iron fireplace with a gas fire. A guest cloakroom is at this end of the house. Upstairs, on the half landing, is a double bedroom presently used as a study. This contains the low-level storage cupboard usually found in Stringer-built houses.

The main bedroom is on the first floor overlooking the front. This has a box bay window with a window-seat and almost two complete walls of fitted wardrobes.

The en suite has a corner bath with a power shower.

Bedroom two is a large double room and has a cast-iron fireplace with very attractive painted tiles. Two windows look out on the garden.

Overlooking the rear garden there is another double bedroom and a spacious bathroom with free-standing bath and shower with antique brass fittings.

On the second floor to the back of the house there is a double attic bedroom a teenager would appreciate. This has sloping ceilings, a cast-iron fireplace and a low level window with a bird's-eye view of the back garden. The magnificent brick-walled rear garden is a special feature of this house. There is a paved terrace in front of the conservatory, a smooth lawn and a lily pond surrounded by flower beds.

Behind a rose-covered pergola there is a second hidden garden and a very large garage currently used as a workshop/ gym. A private lane-way at the back leads to Neville Road. The owners have covered in the side entrance and installed a shower room and laundry here. The front garden has a selection of ornamental trees, rose-beds and a jasmine growing over the porch.