Howth: Orna Mulcahy visits a fine period home in Howth that has large gardens and clear views of Dublin Bay

Lisney expects a price over €3 million for The Needles, Ceanchor Road on Baily, Howth, a fine Victorian house on an acre of superb south-facing gardens that will be auctioned next month.

Built by a member of the Jameson family in the mid 1800s, and named after the tall sharp rocks that rise out of the sea below, The Needles would once have been one of the grandest homes on The Baily.

The two-storey over garden level house has been lived in by the same family for 26 years and, while new owners will almost certainly refurbish the house, they will it find it hard to improve the gardens which have featured in Helen Dillon's gardening programme on RTÉ.

Electronically controlled gates open onto a lushly bordered 250 ft driveway that winds past another property before opening out around the front of the house.

There is a good-sized garden in front of the house, and plenty of parking but the main event is the back garden which drops in terraces to the wide open space of a neighbouring field, beyond which is the sea. Called after the tall sharp rocks that jut out of the sea below this point, The Needles has a private path leading down to the rocks and a bathing pool.

There is a formal garden directly below the house, an enclosed garden with a seating area warmed by a high redbrick wall, a fruit garden, a full sized velvet smooth croquet lawn, and finally a sheltered garden planted with rare trees and shrubs including two fig trees, a thriving oleander and a banana tree.

The house has around 550 sq m (5,900 sq ft) of living space, and an easy square layout that makes it seem very manageable for its size. A wide hallway has a room on either side - a formal diningroom to the left, a study on the right, while the drawingroom runs across the back of the house facing the sea. It's an elegant room with windows on two sides, and a fine white marble chimneypiece.

Next door, the family room is on a smaller scale but enjoys the same gorgeous view of the garden. Off this room is the kitchen which is long rather than wide, with a well planned layout and a seating area set into a bay window.

Leading off the kitchen, steps lead down to a large utility room with separate access to the front garden.

The basement has plenty of useful rooms, including the original kitchen which still has its flagged floor, open fireplace and cast-iron range as well as a glimpse of the sea through its windows. This entire floor could easily convert to self-contained quarters as there is presently a sittingroom, kitchenette and two bedrooms.

The first floor has five double bedrooms, with the main bedroom a spacious 23 ft by 18ft, its tall sash windows framing a view that takes in all of Dublin Bay with Bray and Wicklow heads clear in the distance.

A guest bedroom has an en suite shower room tucked along one side, but otherwise the bedrooms share a large family bathroom.

Carefully maintained, with a comfortable, old-fashioned feel throughout, The Needles would be paradise for a family of young children. It goes to auction on May 19th.