Trader upper in Blackrock for €1.195m

Now double fronted, Karnak on Stradbrook Road in Blackrock was, when it was built in the 1950s, a three-bed redbrick with a garage to the side.

Improvements over the years included building a two-storey extension where that garage used to be and so adding two more bedrooms with a shared bathroom upstairs, a family room to the front downstairs and a pantry and utility to the rear to service the kitchen. It all looks seamless now as if the 193 sq m (2,073 sq ft) detached house was built this way. The owners bought 30 years ago and Karnak will probably once again be bought by a young family trading up.

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Double front doors open into a large hall and to the right are the two original reception rooms which interconnect and then open out to a mahogany conservatory at the back. It’s all very comfortable. The kitchen has contemporary fitted units with painted timber doors and stone worktops and there is space for a dining table.

Upstairs the five bedrooms are doubles of varying sizes, the largest overlooking the back garden has an en suite shower room.

Set back

It is a wide site set behind tall granite walls and a high gate, and to the front there is parking for several cars. The grassy back garden is mature and private, fringed with trees and shrubs, with a side entrance and a sun trap patio at the end.

Buyers will inevitably decorate to their own taste, and they may look to improve the energy rating, which at E2 is low.

Price comparisons on the long and winding Stradbrook Road are difficult because the house styles and garden sizes differ greatly. There are a handful of houses not too dissimilar to Karnak but there are also a great many large bungalows.

One bungalow nearby, on a larger site than this property, sold for €1.15 million through Lisney, the same agent selling Karnak, which is on the market for €1.195 million.