Gouldings' gate-lodge by river a mix of old and new

Enniskerry: €900,000: The home of the late Sir Basil and Lady Valerie Goulding in Enniskerry stands on a large sloping garden. Jane Powers reports

Dargle Lodge in Enniskerry is a curious hybrid: a 19th century gate-lodge with a 1980s architect-designed house growing from its side.

It was the home of the late Sir Basil and Lady Valerie Goulding, who used to own the larger property next door, Dargle Cottage.

The house, which comes with around three-quarters of an acre of gardens, is to be auctioned on May 19th through joint agents H J Byrne and Lisney.

Byrne is quoting a guide price of €900,000. The 1981 addition was designed by Ronnie Tallon of Scott Tallon Walker, and is a spare, no-frills, one-storey building.

The exterior walls are of unrendered concrete blocks, relieved only by steel-framed windows.

Inside, the main accommodation turns its back on the house entrance, so that the rooms face towards the sloping garden.

The largest space is the drawingroom, at about seven by five metres. It is a simple room with a brick hearth.

One wall is entirely composed of windows, which face southwest, across a wonderfully green view of lawn and trees.

There is direct access to a sun-trap patio here.

There are three bedrooms (one en suite), and each of these has French doors opening into the garden.

The kitchen, again with its own French doors, is - like everything in this house - a modest and functional room, with fitted units lining opposite walls.

There are two parallel links acting as umbilical cords joining the new building to the old gate-lodge. The first of these is a glazed atrium, and the second is a sittingroom.

The space between them is a small paved courtyard, empty at the moment, but crying out for some big pots of ferns or other vegetation.

The house has a kitchen, livingroom, bedroom, and bathroom.

The Gouldings were keen plantspeople, and there are some fine specimen trees in the garden, including a beautiful Japanese maple, Acer 'Senkaki', also known as the coral bark maple, on account of its distinctive pink young stems.

The Dargle River runs along the back of the property, where its brown, peaty waters can be seen at the bottom of a steep slope.

Across the river, a band of mature woodland lends a delightfully secluded air to the property - belying the fact that it is only a minute's drive from the N11.

While Dargle Lodge is an interesting 1980s set-piece, it is more likely that its location - so close to Dublin, and yet with such a rural atmosphere - will be the main attraction for some potential buyers.