A small terrace of Georgian villas off the Rathgar Road, tucked away down a short, almost concealed entrance on the city side of Rathgar village, is a delightful surprise. The terrace, built in the 1830s, consists of four houses hidden behind a line of mature trees. There is a large, well-kept green space to the front.

Number 98 Rathgar Road, Dublin 6, at one end of the terrace, has three bedrooms plus a room that could be turned into a bedroom, many intact period features, a conservatory/winter garden and secluded patio to the front. The 1,500 sq ft house goes to auction on FEBRUARY 24th through Gunne, with a guide price of between £270,000 and £280,000.

A set of graceful granite steps leads to the main entrance and hall floor level. A separate, under-steps entrance leads to garden-level accommodation, which has a style quite different to that of the rest of the house. Almost the entire floor area is covered in Welsh quarry tiles from Simon Pearce.

The house was at one point divided into two separate living quarters and has two kitchens. One of these, at hall floor level, could be a fourth bedroom. All the bedrooms in the house are at the hall level, with the livingroom, diningroom, and main kitchen on the ground floor below.

There are two bedrooms off the hallway to the front of the house as you come in: both have original windows with ornate, lattice cast-iron side panels. The bedroom to the right has a bank of built-in wardrobes while the room to the left (currently in use as a study) has an original cast-iron fireplace. A third bedroom, to the rear of the hallway, has fitted wardrobes and presses and a window overlooking the back patio. Opposite, there is a large shower room.

A set of double doors in the entrance hallway open into the kitchen: the doors have stained glass and a fanlight matching that over the front door. The sloping ceiling in this room has a Velux window and there are fitted presses, a stainless steel sink and hob/cooker.

Stairs from the entrance hallway to the garden level lead directly to the dining hall, with Simon Pearce tiling, which opens into a passageway fitted with Japanese oak storage units. These lead to the main kitchen, also fitted with Japanese oak units, a Sholtes electric oven and gas hob. There is a good-sized utility room off the kitchen.

A shower room on this level is fully-tiled in shades of red and beige. Under the front steps there is a wine cellar and a small entrance lobby with a door to the large livingroom. The Simon Pearce floor tiling is very effective in this room, which also has a window on to the front patio, glazed double doors leading to the conservatory/winter garden and an original, cast-iron fireplace.

The L-shaped conservatory/ winter garden has a sloping, double-glazed roof and a couple of lively stained-glass panels by George Walsh. Two side walls are taken up with brickbuilt planters, which have brick columns wound about by geraniums and other climbing plants.