A house-proud Moldovan saw the potential in a terraced house, tweaked the layout and extended it slightly to deliver a turn-key home.
Just a 15-minute walk from commuter belt Kilcock train station is number 159 Strawbridge, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom terraced house that has given a big glow-up by its owner, who did all the work himself.
Igor Marga, a carpenter and electrician from Bahu, a village in the Calarasi region of central Moldova, shares the home with his wife, Larisa and their six-year-old son, Kevin.
They bought the house six years ago as a two-bedroom, two-bathroom property of about 72 square metres.
"I changed everything," he says, [doing] "a few hours every day".
The extensive works were conducted in the evenings and at weekends, after his day working as a courier.
In pristine order, the house now has a cohesive flow that serves family life better.
It now measures about 85 square metres and boasts a B2 Ber-rating.
Address:159 Shawbridge, Chambers Park, Kilcock, Co. Kildare, W23X660
Asking price: €365,000
Agent: Liam Reilly Auctioneers
Inside the house is smartly appointed, with the entrance hall panelled and fitted with a blonde wood cloakroom area with storage space beneath the seating as a place to keep outdoor shoes out of sight when you come in.
He installed a utility room under the stairs.
There is a playroom to the left, in what was originally the kitchen.
"I moved the kitchen to the middle of the house for more open space," he explains, also building out to add an extension to accommodate the living room.
It opens out to the back garden.
The crisp, clean look will make buyers in this market sit up and pay attention.
The fitted kitchen and the media unit in the living room beyond were imported from Moldova.
Both feature the same blonde wood of the hall matched with a matte white door front, giving the long room a contemporary sensibility.
The cabinetry below the counter in the eat-in kitchen could be Pantone’s colour of the year, Cloud Dancer, a soft white, while the cupboards above the counter are Margot Robbie blonde.
These line the left-hand side of the room.
The same tonal combination is reflected on the right-hand exterior wall of the extension, which houses the living room. It lends the space a good sense of balance.
It opens out to a paved back, and there is a garden room at the end.
Upstairs, there are two double bedrooms with a spacious bathroom in between them.
To make the principal bedroom more spacious, he amalgamated its small ensuite with the family bathroom to create a bigger room.
With the works complete, the house is in walk-in condition. The family is returning to Moldova.
"I need to go home, he says pragmatically. "My parents want to spend more time with Kevin." "
