Castleknock: €2.5m: A large modern house on 2.77 acres next door to Farmleigh blends its exterior and interior to create a harmonious whole, writes Eoin Lyons

The exterior landscaping and interior decoration of Ardmaroon House in Castleknock - both borrowing from the Japanese tradition - blend beautifully to create a harmonious whole. The phrase Zen-style sums up both.

For auction on April 21st through Douglas Newman Good, it has a guide of €2.5 million. There are four bedrooms and the house extends to just over 372 sq m (4,000 sq ft) with grounds of 2.77 acres. Located on Tower Road, near Castleknock College, it neighbours the Farmleigh estate.

From an elevated position above the Liffey Valley, there are spectacular views over an amenity area of pasture hills protected against development. This landscape dictated the design of the house seven years ago: picture windows frame vistas from every room. The house replaces a cottage built in the 1920s.

The house is reached from the road by a long gated drive. There is ample car-parking. The house looks impressive on approach - contemporary in style with jutting rooftops and various unusual angles. The entrance, too, is out of the ordinary. Tall double doors are reached by a small bridge and bordered by two tubes cascading into Eastern-looking shallow pools a full storey below.

Once inside the entrance, the eye looks down to the almost ballroom size living and dining area and upwards to the bedroom floor. This upper floor is reached by two matching flights of "floating" teak stairs on either side of a third stairs that lead down to the living area.

Vast windows fill the living-cum-diningroom - a double height space - with natural light and look out to green hills and the Dublin mountains beyond.

To the right is the large kitchen and breakfastroom that combines stainless steel with exotic woods. American oak flooring - heated from beneath - runs through these rooms, as does a sound system.

To the right is a study, which could be used as a fifth bedroom (it has its own shower room). Next door is a utility room that houses an elaborate security system that incorporates CCTV and a heating system that can be operated by mobile phone. Upstairs are four bedrooms. At the top of the twin flights of stairs is the main bedroom. Double doors are positioned behind the bed, which rests in the centre of the room, facing another large window with a view. The large en suite has Philippe Starck fittings. A walk-in wardrobe is to one side of the room.

Each of the other three bedrooms at this level has its own en suite and teak balcony. Most of these rooms have vaulted ceilings. Outside is a self-contained guest or caretaker accommodation in a building that could also be converted to a garage. The grounds slope down to the Strawberry Beds at the foot of the hill in several terraced lawns and planted areas. A very large teak deck wraps around the house and abundant use of old sleepers, bamboo and tropical-looking plants continue the Japanese atmosphere. Further down, the garden is left in its natural woodland state.

The overall feeling is of privacy and being far from the city, yet the reality is that the house is only four miles from O'Connell Bridge and beside all amenities of Castleknock and Chapelizod villages and the Phoenix Park.