57 Strand Road: €1.4m: Property reporter Kate McMorrow brought in crack teams of builders and decorators to revamp her Sandymount home completely.

Expectations were running high when our home in Sandymount went on the market two years ago. However, the right buyer didn't come along and we eventually took the signboard down.

No fault of the agent and we weren't too disappointed. We loved our house and the reason for the sale was to help our youngest two get a foothold on the property ladder. Wasn't to be.

Looking back, the house had fallen between two stools and was not remotely ready for selling. From the ground floor up it was a lovely early Victorian house with Farrow & Ball paint colours, fine plasterwork and period fireplaces.

Below stairs was another story. Ten years of young care-free tenants and a hands-off landlady (me) had taken their toll on the garden level flat.

It's funny how things always turn out right in the end. We applied for planning to build a mews house at the end of the garden, got it to our great delight and now we're off to market again, plus the added value of the mews planning.

The original idea to build the mews house fell through at the last minute when we discovered the site took up more of the garden than we had realised. This way, we might get enough for a smaller house and a deposit on a two-up-two-down for the kids.

Like many houseowners about to go to the market, we are a bit sad to let the house go. Apart from its current state of perfection, number 57 has an interesting lineage that appealed when we bought it 12 years ago. Shakespearian actor Anew McMaster - brother-in-law of Micheál MacLiammoir - lived here and MacLiammoir, Hilton Edwards, Sybil Thorndike, Cyril Cusack and Noel Coward were frequent visitors. Writer Frank O'Connor rented the house for some years at a later stage.

The road that runs along Sandymount Strand still draws its fair share of writers and actors, among them Seamus Heaney and Glynis Casson.

The view from the front windows changes with the tide, one minute grey-blue sea encrusted with seagulls, the next a beach with white sails tacking across the bay on the horizon.

The lesson from last time round was that the house simply had to be restored and everything done. Builder Joe Carabini and his army of plasterers, plumbers, tilers and roofers descended on number 57 last December and worked like tornados. Painters Eamonn and Vinnie Macken and Andy McGuirk started on the upstairs rooms the following month. We moved ahead of them like campers.

Patience wore thin. After the sixth pick-up, the skip company stopped charging per delivery and opened an account.

Most of the building work was in the garden flat, so disturbance was at a minimum in the earlier stages. Ceilings, floors and walls were rebuilt and the dilapidated kitchen thrown in a skip.

An ugly fireplace assembled from boulders collected on Sandymount Strand was replaced with a cast-iron one bought in Francis Street. We decided to leave the original basement entrance in place in case anyone wants to use these rooms as offices or a separate apartment. New bathrooms were also installed.

Once carpets were laid and Eamonn, Vinnie and Andy had worked their magic, the house looked wonderful.

They've taken to dropping in every now and then to touch up the paintwork. Everyone gone, windows were cleaned, garden tidied and the Cinderella Works people hired in to give the place a good clean.

Designers Niamh de Barra and Sinead Considine helped with the interior, adding smart sofas and bedding to our precious but slightly worn bits and pieces.

This turned to be a great move, saving us the bother of replacing worn-out furniture and spending huge amounts on glamorous bed linens. Their input made all the difference and we were now almost ready for viewing.

Décor-wise, we've stuck with safe neutral colours, varying it slightly around the house. Designers Sinead and Niamh ferried in plump sofas, a silk-covered chaise longue to glamour up the main bedroom and a gorgeous cabriolet legged chair.

Matching gold leaf mirrors were propped elegantly on the two mantelpieces in the sitting and dining rooms. In the meantime, family and friends relentlessly ferried boxes of de-clutter to a storage room rented by the month in Deansgrange.

Our favourite room has stayed more or less unchanged. The kitchen with its maple cupboards, black floorboards and painted fireplace has hosted many an informal Sunday lunch party. Weather permitting, we carry the food out to the deck overlooking the plum tree and stay there till evening.

The garden has been growing since the 1840s and some of the greenery dates from then. The gardeners we hired resisted the urge to trim back too severely, simply removing ivy from fruit trees and tidying the giant bay hedge that makes the deck so private.

The lawn could do with re-seeding in parts, but that's for another day.

Now we've done justice to the house we're happy as clams. It deserved its makeover and some lucky new family are going to reap the benefits.

57 Strand Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4, will be sold at auction on May 11th through agent Felicity Fox