A house sitting in the middle of nearly two acres of lawn is very bright and very spacious: walls are painted mostly white, floors are either wide-plank oak or travertine tiles, and the fit-out is both simple and sophisticated, with a slightly French flavour – the owners spend a lot of time in France. Beige and white linen blinds, curtains and sofa covers are complemented by colourful artwork throughout the house.

Nara is one of just four houses on Ferndale Hill, one of those enclaves in Rathmichael with very big houses on huge – by city standards – sites. Now the detached four-bed on 0.7 hectares (1.8 acres) with distant sea views is for sale for €1.7 million through Sherry FitzGerald. Close to Shankill and the M50, it's where suburbs meet the country: the owner says the area is full of wildlife and all kinds of birds. One day a deer strolled up to stare into the conservatory, only scarpering when they moved.

The layout of the 353sq m (3,800sq ft) house, built in 1996, is unusual, with unpredictable angles. Essentially, it’s semi-circular, with rooms spreading around a wide double-height entrance hall. A large glazed front porch opens into the hall which has a skylight nearly 9m (30ft) high, floor-to-ceiling windows, a cantilevered staircase and a galleried first-floor landing.

A turn left leads to a drawingroom with an oak floor, floor-to-ceiling tilt and turn windows and a sandstone fireplace; glazed double doors lead from here to the travertine-floored diningroom.

The Poggenpohl-fitted kitchen/breakfast room at the rear of the house – described in the agent’s brochure as having a “geometric” shape – is all cream and white, with an off-white Silestone island unit and countertops. Wide glazed double doors open into a conservatory with linen Roman blinds in the ceiling. A utility room opens off it. The front hall winds around to a family room and beside it, a downstairs double bedroom and a smart fully-tiled en suite shower room. A downstairs toilet is also fully travertine-tiled.

Upstairs, the galleried landing has colourful art on the semi-circular wall and a wall of windows with a door opening on to a wide balcony looking over the front lawn towards the sea. The three bedrooms are all doubles, all with fitted wardrobes – there’s lots of storage in this house. One is dual aspect, with a window seat looking towards Killiney Hill; another has a balcony overlooking the rear garden.

The main – partly under-eaves – bedroom is triple aspect, with a large dressing area with mirrored sliderobes and a fully-tiled en suite. All the bathrooms in the house are smart.

Outside, there’s a deck and sandstone patio curving around the house and railway sleeper-steps up to a lawn which surrounds the house, fringed with raised flowerbeds and trees that look quite mature although only planted 23 years ago. The garden and huge well-manicured lawn are tended weekly.

Electronic gates lead up a curving driveway to the front door; there is plenty of room for parking outside as well as a separate garage.