Delightful downtown Blackrock two-bed for €525k

Blackrock village’s facelift is ongoing. Its Frascati shopping centre has had a €30 million-plus upgrade and the village centre is far quieter than it was a few years ago making it a nice place to locate with great access to Dart and bus corridors.

Number 23 Temple Road is a two-bed, mid-terrace Victorian redbrick that opens on to the street and sits a short stroll from Blackrock and to its shops, cafes and library.

The property has been completely gutted and modernised by its owners who paid €305,000 for it in April 2013, according to the property price register. They reinstated the timber staircase, as previous owners had replaced the original in favour of a spiral staircase. They also introduced a small vestibule so that you no longer opened directly into the front room. This has been decoratively floored in colourful encaustic tiles.

The front room and kitchen have herringbone pattern engineered parquet floors and a solid-fuel burning stove sits in front of the original corner fireplace, on a polished granite hearth.

The eat-in kitchen has smart white Ikea units and timber countertops with a neat island dividing the dining table from the worktops.

Upstairs there are two double bedrooms and a shower room where they cleverly installed a glass panel above its door to allow natural light in.

All the rooms have large windows that wash them in light and there is a small, gravel yard to the rear that although overlooked is southwest facing and gets lovely evening sun. There is a secure bike box here and a small but valuable laundry room keeping noisy white appliances out of the kitchen. Adding some wall-hung drying racks would really help keep the house clutter free.

The works have brought an F Ber-rated property up to an impressive C3 rating, which included amping up its insulation levels.

The 63sq m (678sq ft) property is in walk-in condition and seeking €525,000 through agent Janet Carroll. If the price seems a little bullish consider similar styles of property currently for sale nearby in need of a complete overhaul.

Number 4 Eagle Terrace is a mid-terrace one-bed whose accommodation could be divided into two bedrooms but to install a bathroom upstairs will require building on an extension. It is seeking €375,000.

Number 3 Brookfield Terrace is a three-bed, end-of-terrace in need of complete modernisation. Currently it has no bathroom upstairs but you could install one in the third bedroom. It is seeking €425,000 but is open to offers. Both of these are for sale through agents Beirne & Wise. The current difficulty with doer-uppers is securing builders to take on the work, and then agreeing an affordable rate.

Parking is on-street residents’ disc parking.