They say that architects' houses are never finished, and that is certainly true of Quarry House, the large home on Quarry Road, in Rathmichael, Co Dublin, of artist-architect Ross Eccles. However, in this case, the state of incompleteness - which extends mainly to interior details - will be seen as a definite bonus by buyers wishing to put their own stamp on the property.
The five-bedroom family home, on just over an acre with a separate 600 sq ft self-contained apartment, will be auctioned by Lisney on October 20th. Selling agent David Bewley suggests a guide price of £500,000-plus for the property. But this house could well be dream-home material for more than one potential buyer, and the final price will reflect that.
Built in 1981, Quarry House is an imposing, crisp white structure with clean, bold lines. It is placed to take advantage of sea views, and especially the Kish lighthouse, on which it is focused. A curved viewing tower on top of the house is not unlike the wheelhouse of a small ship.
There are two separate drives to this highly flexible building. The first leads to a ground-floor studio area, while the second leads to the main living accommodation. The studio where Mr Eccles used to run his architectural practice, and where he now paints, is a large L-shaped room with excellent light coming from three sides. It makes an almost self-contained unit with its own lavatory and utility area.
A big double garage adjoins it. New owners may decide to run a home office from this space, or, as a spiral staircase already leads to the family area, they may wish to integrate it into the rest of the house.
The separate 600 sq ft apartment is also on this level, and is reached by its own entrance around the back.
Upstairs (which is at ground level if you enter from the top drive) there are five bedrooms. Among these is a lovely corner suite and the unfinished main bedroom - with good sea views - and its adjoining "bathroom" (with no fittings).
Another bathroom, a utility room and a large L-shaped family room incorporating a kitchen, dining and sitting area, make up the rest of this floor.
French doors from the family room at present go into a void, but there are two massive steel girders embedded into the house which are intended to support a balcony.
There is a mezzanine floor above the bedroom wing, with light filtering down via skylights in the roof. At this level there is a tiny boxroom and the viewing room, with its wonderful views of Dalkey Island, Killiney Bay and of course, the Kish lighthouse.
The garden consists of a sizeable grass and gravel patch at the front and a wildish area carved out of the hillside at the back. A big pond containing carp is spring-fed. An internal courtyard has an unfinished swimming-pool in its centre.
