It’s probably a sign of the times that when the builder owner of 82 Dodder Road Lower was preparing his semi-detached 1930s house for sale he built a garden room at the end of the family’s smartly landscaped 21.5m/70ft rear garden.

There was a time that the most a seller might consider doing after a thorough declutter was to give the front door a lick of paint. But times have changed and buyers, particularly those trading up (the likely buyers for this three-bed 183sq m/1,970sq ft extended house in Rathfarnham) have a long list of boxes to tick and at the top of that list is, increasingly, space to work from home.

This home office is roomy enough for anyone needing office space and a pleasant environment with its wall of glazing looking back toward the house.

Not that this house is short of space. When the family bought in 2011 – at a collapsed market price of €350,000 – the house was in need of renovation. The builder went further adding a two-storey extension to the rear and side, going up into the attic and incorporating the garage space – the horseshoe shape opening to the front is an interesting touch – into the living accommodation.

The work now maximises the potential of the semi.

Downstairs, the front reception room with its box bay remains much the same – copying the style of the original 1930s windows when replacing them was an attractive touch, and is a reflection of the quality of the refurbishment. Pocket doors cut off this room from the extended rear where the original rear reception room is now open plan to a kitchen dining area. The blue-painted kitchen with its quartz countertop features extensive storage and there is also a well fitted utility room.

Upstairs the three bedrooms, one en suite, are doubles and a room in the attic is used as a fourth bedroom.

Rathfarnham is a sprawling suburb but Dodder Road Lower is particularly well located as it overlooks a riverside walk directly in front and, on the opposite bank, the high, densely growing trees of the park. Always popular as a leisure amenity the Dodder linear park has really come into its own in the past few months.

The same smart landscaping at the back was employed to the front where 82 Dodder Road Lower, has off-street parking for several cars. The house, in walk-in condition, is for sale though Felicity Fox seeking €900,000.