New houses in Victorian style

Two new houses that have been built from scratch in the Victorian style are among the most interesting properties to come on the market this week.

Douglas Newman Good is quoting a guide price of £350,000 for 147A Merrion Road, Dublin 4, a detached three-bedroom house that is a near replica of its neighbours - redbrick cottages built by the Pembroke Estate in the mid-19th century. It goes to auction on December 9th.

Around the corner on Herbert Avenue, Sherry FitzGerald expects a price in excess of £450,000 for Herbert Lodge, a fine detached four-bedroom house that fits very well into the landscape of the road. Both houses have been finished to an exceptionally high standard, but since both were slotted into fairly shallow sites, the gardens are disappointingly small. Commuters along the busy Merrion Road will have seen 147A rising from the ground and being finished off in immaculate detail. Built on a corner site, the layout inside is modern, light and airy. There is a surprisingly large hall, a big kitchen-cum-diningroom running from front to back of the house, a sittingroom at the back of the house, away from the traffic and a tiny study.

The kitchen, which overlooks the main road through two sash windows, has a good range of red alder units that match in tone the polished pine floor. There is a useful central island topped in the granite-effect formica which also forms the extensive worktops. Off the kitchen is a galley style utility room. The kitchen opens out into a dining area with windows on two sides and a door to the patio-style garden. Double doors lead from the dining area into the livingroom.

There is an understairs lavatory.

Upstairs, the main bedroom is big and bright with windows on two sides and a wall of built-in wardrobes. It has an en suite shower room. The two remaining bedrooms share a good-sized family bathroom. The finish throughout the house is impressive with attractive polished wood floors in all the ground floor rooms. There is a small landscaped garden in front of the house, and a drive-in area off Herbert Avenue. The one drawback to this property is the noise of traffic whizzing by on a fairly constant basis. Herbert Lodge, around the corner from number 147A, is a large detached house that may well appeal to someone in the medical profession, given that it is almost at the gates of St Vincent's private hospital. The big well-proportioned house seems larger than its 1,850 sq ft. The front door opens into a bright hallway with one reception room on either side. To the right is the drawingroom, painted a warm terracotta, which has an Adams-style fireplace. French doors open on to the small patio garden. The diningroom on the other side of the hall is a slightly smaller room, but it too has an impressive reproduction chimney-piece.

Double doors open into the kitchen, which has standard pale timber Shaker-style units at one end and a dining area at the other. The floor is a hard wearing pale linoleum. Off the kitchen is a long utility room with access to the garden. There is also a guest lavatory. Upstairs, there is a terrific sense of space and light with the two principal bedrooms leading off a landing big enough to take a sofa or a desk.

The main bedroom has a big walk-in bathroom. A corridor leads off to the two remaining bedrooms, both of which are comfortable doubles. One has an en suite shower room, the other is next door to a large family bathroom. Decorated from top to bottom in fresh neutral tones, and with wool carpet in a pale mushroom shade fitted throughout, the house is in walk-in condition. This should be a strong factor in its favour when it is auctioned on December 2nd.