Sleeping beauty in Mount Merrion for sale after 82 years

A four-bedroom house built in 1936, and owned by one family since then, was one of the "dream homes" built by developer John Kenny in Mount Merrion, one of Ireland's first suburbs, marketed then as a place near the city with space to breathe.

The owners of Number 8 Greygates did makes some changes to their house over the years: it has oil-fired central heating, a garage converted to a small sittingroom and a small sunroom at the back. But the house – a  145sq m (1,560sq ft) semi-detached four-bed, an executor sale being handled by DNG, will need complete renovation.

DNG is seeking €975,000, and agent Brian Dempsey estimates the cost of renovation at between €250,000 and €300,000. There is plenty of space to expand into the 38m (125ft) long back garden.

In keeping with the style of its period, Number 8 has dark timber features, from the oak front door – with a stained glass window – to  the oak floors and interior doors.

The livingroom on the right of the front hall has a wide bay window and a fireplace with an Art Deco-ish tiled surround and a brown timber mantel with concealed circular cupboards at each side.

The diningroom behind the livingroom has dark walls. It opens into a small wide sunroom across the back of the house and into a parquet-floored breakfastroom off a galley kitchen.

Bay window

Upstairs the main bedroom, over the livingroom at the front of the house, also has a bay window; next to it is a door into a relatively high-ceilinged storage space that could be converted to an en suite. One of the remaining bedrooms is a single, the other two are double. The family bathroom and separate toilet are on a landing on the left, part way up the stairs.

The back garden is one of the most attractive features of the property: a stone path leads down the centre of a garden between lawns filled with tall trees and flourishing bushes. The tool shed and a glasshouse sit at the very end.

Greygates is a small cul-de-sac tucked away off the N11, just off St Thomas Road. Number 8 is at the top end, facing directly onto the N11. A bus stop on the N11 is less than five minutes’ walk.