Co Kildare/€3m: You could ride to the Ryder from a comfortable family home in the heart of horsey country in Kildare. Robert O'Byrne reports

With so much hullabaloo about the forthcoming Ryder Cup, it's easy to forget that Kildare is known for other sporting activities.

But the county's rich equestrian associations are very much in evidence at Waterstown House, due to be auctioned by HOK Country on October 6th when it's expected to fetch over €3 million.

Not far from Sallins and running parallel to the Grand Canal, the property is surrounded by some 17.4 acres, much of it devoted to paddocks for the horses stabled in Waterstown's nine loose boxes and provided with such facilities as an all-weather outdoor arena plus feed- and tackrooms.

Beside the immaculate stableyard is a large double garage with staff accommodation above.

Residents of the main house are equally well-cared for. Waterstown, running to more than (418sq m) 4,500sq feet, was built just over a quarter century ago; carved into the drawingroom's stone chimneypiece is the year of its completion, 1980.

Very much designed as a family home, all the rooms flow into one another and share a sense of comfort thanks to the use throughout of warm materials such as stained wood and exposed redbrick. The other constant feature is abundant light; Waterstown has two large conservatories, one facing east and the other west, so that both morning and afternoon there's somewhere to sit and contemplate the well-tended gardens with their abundance of mature shrubs.

The principal reception rooms have exceptionally high beamed ceilings, rising at least 15 ft and these enhance the overall impression of interior spaciousness.

Aside from a drawingroom, diningroom and large stairhall, the groundfloor also holds a study/poolroom, a laundryroom, utility room, big kitchen, sittingroom, office and guest bathroom.

Upstairs the main bedroom has its own dressingroom and bathroom but the other three relatively small bedrooms must share one facility.

Waterstown's new owners might want to do something about the sleeping options - and will have the opportunity because there is planning permission to convert an adjacent and substantial timber-framed glasshouse into a two-bedroom apartment or granny flat.

It's safe to say that whoever is the eventual purchaser will have some interest in horses. And for those who also like golf, well the K-Club's just a few miles down the road.