Rathmines: €1.75m A four-bedroom Dublin 6 redbrick is complemented by a modern, light-filled extension, writes Eoin Lyons.

Number 7 Windsor Road in Rathmines, Dublin 6, is to be auctioned on May 4th by Douglas Newman Good with a guide price of €1.75 million. While the exterior of the four-bedroom house may not suggest the same degree of spaciousness as those on neighbouring Palmerston Road, its mature redbrick façade masks good workable living space on three levels.

The original house is complemented by a bright and uncompromisingly modern extension cleverly incorporating one of the original kitchen walls.

German architect Roland Bosbach, who has won several awards from the Association of Architects in Ireland, and now lives and works in Shanghai, designed this remarkable extension for stylist Roisin Hall and her family. Stepping into the front hall, one is immediately struck by the view to the garden, made possible by a glass door to the kitchen and large windows in the extension beyond.

This is a pleasant introduction to a most lovely home, decorated with style by the current owner who has a real gift for interior decoration. To the right of the wide hall is a well-proportioned drawingroom with detailed original cornicing and grey marble chimneypiece, typical of the Victorian era.

Down a few steps and also to the right is the family room, decorated to create a cosy atmosphere. Large slabs of granite frame the hearth in which there sits a cast-iron, wood-burning stove. The original floorboards have been stained.

This room opens into the extension, a space of total contrast. It holds the dining area, the kitchen and more living space. The walls here are painted white and the floor is made from an off-white resin - a practical choice of material. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors open to decking outside and there are skylights with unusual angles that make this room wonderfully bright. While it is essentially an open plan space, the extension is built around an original wall that separates the kitchen from the rest of the room.

For those who like the idea of open plan living but perhaps not comfortable with the exposure of the kitchen - and the resulting pressure to keep it immaculate because it's always on view - this is an ideal solution.

The original sash window has been left in the wall and acts as a style reference to the rest of the house.

Upstairs on the first return is the family bathroom. It is spacious and has limestone tiles, a shower with Grohe fittings and a bath sitting on wooden plinths. The bathroom window, like all others to the rear, looks out to the sloped roof of the extension, imaginatively covered in wood chippings. Also at this level is a good-sized bedroom with a fireplace. On the next return is the main bedroom. Running the width of the house it has a high ceiling, marble fireplace and two tall windows overlooking the street. It is drawingroom size and could possibly be used as such by the new owners. For this reason it was decided not to create an en suite during the renovation. With some imagination, however, one could easily be created if need be.

At the top of the house there are two more bedrooms, one single and the other large. Both have sweet iron fireplace surrounds and views to the garden and rooftops beyond.

The young children of the house sleep here and potential owners could take note of the pretty painted furniture that suits the style and purpose of the rooms.

Outside, there is a well-maintained garden of good size for the city. It is not directly overlooked and there is access to a laneway behind the house. There is disk parking on the street to the front. Windsor Road is a five-minute walk from the Luas and the shops on Dunville Avenue.