On the day that the estate agent arrived to measure up number 6 Knapton Terrace, the owners had been in the fine Victorian two storey over-basement home for 30 years.

The houses in this Monkstown terrace were built about 1895 and they are so substantial – number 6 has 266sq m (2,863sq ft) over three storeys with large rooms – it’s not surprising that there comes a time when downsizing is the right option. And it’s not only the house that’s substantial – the back garden of number 6 is still intact at 44m long, with a double garage at the rear opening to Knapton Lane. This quiet lane is designated for mews development which might attract potential buyers with ambitions to build. Number 6 Knapton Terrace is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald, asking €2.25 million.

The grandest rooms in these houses are the bay-windowed drawing rooms running the width of the front of the house and located up on the first floor, rich in original decorative features including elaborate plasterwork and a fine chimneypiece. These days they tend to be used as the main bedroom, but in number 6 the owners use the fine room as intended, as a living room.

The main bedroom is to the rear on this level; there are two double bedrooms in the return, both adjacent to a bathroom, while the the rear room at hall level is the fourth bedroom; this room is usually used as a reception room. The front room on this hall level is a formal diningroom , which will probably become a living room for new owners.

Down at garden level, the eat-in kitchen is to the front. It has been updated and enlarged in recent years and there is a family room to the rear opening to the back garden and to a study in the return.

The front garden is laid out in a formal style, and while many people in the terrace park on the street, this house has off-street parking to the rear.