When estate agents say that a house retains many of its period features they don't usually mean the wallpaper. But 70 Frankfort Avenue, Rathgar, not only has its full complement of fine marble fireplaces and elaborate plasterwork - its wallpaper was pasted up by the current owner's parents when they moved there in 1923. The three-storey three-bedroom house has a guide price of £500,000 prior to auction through Hamilton Osborne King on October 20th.

This is a house that needs a great deal of work, but it has many features that make it a very good example of its type. It is noticeably wider than many of its period which means that the gardens at the front and the back are attractively wide. There is also a turn on the granite steps leading up to the hall door which gives the entrance a sense of grandeur. The house has a side entrance.

There are two very large interconnecting reception rooms and the front room has remained the same since it was first decorated nearly 70 years ago.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms and unusually, the main bedroom is in the back of the house. While all three bedrooms have period fireplaces, this back bedroom has a grand white marble one. The two other bedrooms are to the front of the house. A large room takes up the first floor return and over the years this has been used as a kitchen. The hall floor return features the house's original wood-panelled bathroom, complete with the original large, free-standing bath and a cast-iron fireplace.

The garden level of the house has not been in daily use for some time but it has three large, square-shaped rooms: the one to the front was originally the kitchen; the back room, which has an impressive period fireplace, was the family room; and the third is in the return along with a pantry and lavatory. There is a garage at the rear of the 100 ft long garden, and a large patio immediately behind the house. Years ago, this was paved with tiles salvaged from the ground floor.