It seems as if every period house that is bigger than an average semi is described by estate agents as "imposing", but 11 Palmerston Park in Dublin 6 is a truly imposing house. The seven-bedroom house, which overlooks the park, will be auctioned by Sherry FitzGerald on June 10th. The guide price is £870,000-plus. The house is in need of work, but even so the guide seems a little on the conservative side given that it is over 4,000 sq ft and there is potential for a mews at the end of the garden.

Built in 1882, the property was divided into six separate units about 40 years ago. The division doesn't seem to have been too intrusive in that all the highly decorative Victorian plasterwork is still in place as are all the fireplaces, from the grand marble ones in the reception rooms to the more modest cast-iron ones in the upstairs rooms. However, new owners will be ripping out a great many partitions and old bathrooms to get the feel of how grand the rooms are.

At hall level, there is a large square shaped vestibule with decorative cornices and a large window which opens into a very attractive L-shaped hall. Off this is the first of the formal livingrooms. It is very large and made even more impressive by its bay windows and highly decorative plasterwork. There are three more rooms on this level, including two cloakrooms or pantry-type rooms. Upstairs, the front rooms on the first floor were clearly intended as grand reception rooms made up of a vast livingroom with double doors opening into a smaller diningroom. Once the partition is taken down this will have its very charming original wooden bay window which is tacked on to the side of the house.

Also at this level is a lofty rectangular shaped room which must have originally been a butler's pantry. When the partitions are taken down there will also be two large rooms on this level.

On up to the second floor and the layout is equally simple: again, there are two rooms to the back and two much larger rooms to the front. There is also a relatively small bathroom on this level.

At hall door level, there is a single storey return with three principal rooms. However, the house has a most interesting detail in a curved wall that runs from the ground up to the roof and is a return of sorts in that there is room in it for a small cloakroom on each floor.

The semi-detached house is between a school and a private nursing home and has a long garden with high granite walls. To the side is a large detached garage and there is plenty of room for parking in the mostly paved front garden.