Set on 3.5ac of land on the southwestern fringes of Dublin, Bauhaus, at 16 Stocking Lane in Rathfarnham, is one of a kind. The fortress-like home, which was originally named Newhouse, was designed in the early 1960s by the husband-and-wife architectural team of Joachim and Margot Schürmann for Joachim's brother and sister-in-law, the sculptors Werner Schürmann and Gerda Froemel.
Its exterior, built using kiln-reject red clay bricks – which cost a fraction of the standard price – exploits Bauhaus principles, using the fewest materials and avoiding any extraneous details.
The house also channels a far earlier form of architecture: the domus, or atrium house, of ancient Rome, which was designed to look inwards. The property’s rooms are set around a courtyard that is itself framed by an open colonnade of timber telegraph poles set on stone pads. The courtyard covers a substantial 111sq m (1,195sq ft) – big enough to accommodate a three-bedroom semi-detached house.
Instead of requiring guttering and downpipes, the property’s sloping roof and corner gargoyles funnel rainwater into the centre of this open space, making a feature of a regular part of Irish weather. When it pours the rain cascades down.
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![Bauhaus, Stocking Lane, Dublin 16](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/A2ZBV4F777PWUVHZTEF5KSSO6I.jpg?auth=9a5c4aed337995dc00f2fdb6abb27630954e97a8e4bf97e4de1d9bf1d23c3d76&width=800&height=533)
![Bauhaus, Stocking Lane, Dublin 16](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/SOGVXLIMSZL2XTVJOOAN7XX7NE.jpg?auth=d021b4b95a558ec09f470a2fc507bc17bfed3aa7ab71c7445f644d1e3661fbc4&width=800&height=533)
![Bauhaus, Stocking Lane, Dublin 16](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/TUY6WJRKZNTOWLBQZDOS6KFUOY.jpg?auth=ba5ca30d892fe0078d39db4e76174e0bbd6c75faec1ffce7b380f2de77dad44f&width=800&height=533)
![Bauhaus, Stocking Lane, Dublin 16](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/57XMVQKV3C675M5H2FOMECO4SU.jpg?auth=28509bedb30502861bf1969611fa84b2d7d3173771c7a937bf52614a3c21cd26&width=800&height=533)
The rooms of the house, which extends to 232sq m (2,497sq ft), are all open plan, every room opening to the external space via floor-to-ceiling sliding doors.
The livingroom, with honey-coloured timber boards and an open fire, is to the left of the entrance hall; the kitchen leads through to the dining area. The house has four bedrooms; the master bedroom is across the atrium from the other three doubles.
The house winds around the sloping site, beyond the stable courtyard where Schürmann had his bronze-casting foundry, so that, although it appears all to be on one level, it in fact winds down to Froemel’s studio, accessed from the courtyard, and to a self-contained one-bedroom apartment of about 83sq m (893sq ft), all set within the overall house.
Built in 1964, the property was sold in 2006. Although it was listed as a protected structure, changes were then made to upgrade the kitchens and bathrooms. Permission to retain these alterations was granted in 2009.
The Coldwell Banker agenc is seeking €4 million.