Let Druid Rock put you under it spell

Tommy Barker is captivated by the magical spell of Druid Rock.

BRIGHTNESS, light flooding in, drawn in. That's what they got into Druid Rock, an angular and contemporary designed Co Waterford home up for sale less than two years after it was painstakingly built.

The 3,000 sq ft family home at Faithlegg goes out of its way to amplify any available natural light, via corner windows, tall apex windows, and then using Velux windows opening into high ceilinged circulation areas as well. The fact there're great rural views over stretches of Co Waterford and back towards the city is a bonus, as is the fact the Faithlegg Championship golf course and country house is a neighbouring amenity.

Set on the evocatively-titled Green Road in Faithlegg, Druid Rock was built by a couple with local Waterford and Wicklow roots, who've lived in numerous different Irish and overseas settings: in fact this is their 13th home (but only the first they've built from scratch), so anyone now moving in can be reassured that it is a place designed for active family living by a couple with three kids who've been around the home layout block.

The vendors are upping anchor for a boating life by Kinsale in Co Cork, but admit even that relocation to a three-bed semi by the sea is a temporary one; they're just restless.

This house was done up for keeps, and expense wasn't spared, while bright contemporary artworks and photography add even more to the visual appeal. It has four bedrooms, three at ground level, and one small attic level bedroom, plus a 21' by 16' play room also under the sloping roofs with gable and skylight windows.

Otherwise, there's a smashing open tall hallway with oak stairs and with discrete blue-tinged LED lighting set into the lower hall step.

Most of the house's flooring is expensive Travertine marble, and the same finish is taken marginally up the walls for skirtings, and other good floor finishes are solid oak.

There's a high-ceilinged living room with tall apex windows and a centrepiece Iranian sandstone fireplace with curvey columns, and the kitchen/dining/family space also is tall ceilinged, with Smeg oven and units by Scavolini ending in a bull-nosed circular breakfast bar area with food prep sink.

This odd-shaped 31' by 25' room backs into a warm family room with hearty red wall and solid fuel stove for evening cheeriness, while a day-time sun room is a further living space, with French doors to a patio. All the main bedrooms have oak floors, and oak again features in the doors and other joinery, while the main bedroom has a smart en suite with Jacuzzi bath, top notch shower with large head and there's a mezzanine over the bed head.

Selling agents for Druid Rock are O'Shea O'Toole and Partners in Waterford city (six miles away from this home) and they seek offers around €925,000.

Apart from the size and 1.25 acre site, there's value and quality to be seen in things like the surround sound system, with a home entertainment central control in the utility room, finishes are good and a lot of attention has been paid to lighting, both in suspended pendant lighting and wall lighting mixes.

Some circulation areas, and the kitchen, have exposed ceiling joists, but they don't look out of place, or in the wrong century in the case of Druid Rock. Creature comforts are underpinned by oil heating and dark-shaded powder-coated aluminium window frames with double glazing.