For sale: home by one of our top architects

THE WALLPAPER House in Woods Place, Cork, was the first domestic commission for architect Tomás de Paor, who has just scooped the Architect of the Year Award in the UK.

The design for the house, which was an infill project in a very tight space, won an Architectural Association of Ireland Award at the time. Right now, that same house is on the market.

Priced at €250,000 through Diarmuid Dooley of Dooley and Howard, there's a bonus with the sale: Tom de Paor would love to revisit his eight-year old commission and would be more than willing to give a few tips to new owners.

"I'm really fond of it it's the first house we did and I'd love to see it," he said. Designed by the architect when he was in his early 20s, this work followed on a commission he won to design the visitors' centre at the Royal Gunpowder Mills in Ballincollig. He has been working in his own practice since leaving college and hit the headlines with his peat briquette pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2000.

At the moment, the firm has a series of domestic commissions on hand on a much larger scale than he Wallpaper House.

Originally, the design was to include wallpaper on the walls, in conjunction with internal pine- cladding, because the client liked wallpaper, and, perhaps, because the idea was so outre at the time. And although Tom hasn't seen the house in some time he suggests it might need 'softening up', even though the wallpaper theme never came about.

At the moment the walls are painted with the panelling remaining, so taking a brush to those sections could open up the space more.

The house is on three levels, and without getting too complicated, is cubic in nature, with a total area of 81 metres and dimensions of 2.5m by 2.5 m.

The site was a tight fit, says de Paor, but he managed to create maximum space in what was really an extension of the B&B premises on York Hill, set in a little lane of the steep street linking Mc Curtain St with Wellington Road.

Approached by a flight of concrete steps from the street, it has a ground floor double bedroom, with bathroom. The central staircase then rises to the living/dining room.

This is L-shaped, and has a kitchen in one leg, with a small utility room off and a living room with a broad, south-facing picture window. Space allows just enough room for a table and chairs between the stairwell and window. The same layout is continued on the upper floor.

This is also used as a bedroom at the moment, but was planned as a living room. Its main feature is the French windows leading onto a sunny deck. The deck overlooks the street and views further over the city and gets sun for most of the day.

The house is faded and will need some TLC, despite being painted and well maintained.

At €250,000, the house is comparable to, if not cheaper than a standard apartment in town, but you're getting a building designed by one of the best architects in the country.