As bungalows offer so many options in terms of layout it’s never easy to predict what’s behind the front door. The 1970s red-brick detached version at 31 Grove Lawn in Blackrock offers even more options because unusually it has a basement. The builder who completed the three houses in the cul-de-sac built number 31 for a family member but circumstances changed and it went on the market.

The current owners bought in 1974 and have lived here since, raising their family and adapting the space over the years to suit their changing needs.

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The basement has been a playroom then a teenage hangout space and in more recent years, following a renovation and fit-out, a very large home office with separate storeroom and toilet.

The most significant change happened in 2000 when, thinking they might like a conservatory to the side over the car port they asked architect Cathal Crimmins for his ideas. He immediately saw the potential for a complete reimagining of the interior and instead of a conservatory he designed a light-filled oak-beamed room that runs from front to back of the house and opens to a substantial timber deck looking down on the garden. That new room, currently used as a formal dining room, opens into a book-lined livingroom – with a large picture window to the garden – and on into the kitchen which was enlarged during the renovation. There is access to the garden from this level.

There is a larger more formal livingroom to the front of the house with dual aspect – and it too opens into the rooms at the back. Changing the location of the staircase made space for a utility room off the kitchen. Roof lights were installed in the wide hall and over the staircase, so throughout the house feels light and airy.

In more recent years, more work has been done including installing a bespoke Newcastle Design kitchen in solid oak with stone worktops and updating the en suite in the main bedroom.

There are three bedrooms in the 227sq m/2,443sq ft house – two doubles and a single – and the family bathroom.

The garden has changed in recent years too – when their children were growing up the rear garden had a lawn. Now it has been landscaped and densely planted as a lush low-maintenance garden. The front garden is the same – full of flowering shrubs and evergreens.

The owners are now downsizing leaving their house in walk-in condition. Buyers could have another look at the layout –depending on their needs – as that large basement area, with its access to both the front and rear could easily be divided into a couple of additional bedrooms or a self-contained area.

Number 31 Grove Lawn, is for sale though Sherry FitzGerald seeking €1.275 million.