A palatial retro-modern house, billed as "ahead of its time" when it was designed 30 years ago, is for sale by private treaty through Lisney for excess £800,000 (1.02 million).

Sutton House was well-used for entertaining by the present occupants, who raised a family there. With its bright airy reception rooms, opulent wood-panelled rooms and lush private gardens, the 4,400 sq ft house next door to the former Sutton Castle Hotel makes an impressive home.

Split-level, detached and with no expense spared when it comes to interior finish, the property nevertheless needs some basic work to bring it back to its former excellence.

A more modern kitchen, for instance, is a must. Many buyers will consider knocking this east-facing room through to the south-facing diningroom, to make the most of the orientation and spectacular views over Dublin Bay when the leaves fall.

The interior includes many features which would be simply a pipe-dream for most house-owners today. Walls in the reception hall are oak-lined and floors throughout are polished oak parquet. An arched oak door to the inner hall has a stained glass window and the front door is of thick solid oak.

The rose-painted sittingroom and adjoining diningroom both face south, with glass doors to a tiled balcony which runs the length of the house at the back. Proportions are liberal and a wall-to-wall sittingroom window is silled in green marble. The mantelpiece in this room is mahogany, with a magnificent figured copper and brass inset.

Rich walnut veneer lines the walls of the diningroom, which also has an oak parquet floor and tiled window sill. The kitchen faces east for morning sun and opens out to a terrace with built-in oak seating.

Serviceable but dated units in the kitchen will probably be replaced, although a copper cooker canopy is worth keeping and an oak shelf at picture rail height is an attractive feature. Here, as everywhere around the house, the windows have expensive tilt and slide fittings which work effortlessly.

The bedroom wing on this floor faces the front of the house but, with high brick boundary walls, it is still extremely private. All five bedrooms are doubles, with washbasins. The main bedroom has an en suite bathroom.

A bright, garden-level area has a separate front entrance and could be used as staff accommodation or a teenager's apartment. The large livingroom has a modern kitchen off, there is an equally spacious games room, a double bedroom, shower room and a wine cellar, currently converted to a child's bedroom. Next to the laundry room is a larder.

The mature private gardens were probably once part of the hotel grounds and there is a door in the orchard wall which is no longer in use. There is a wide flagged terrace, rosebeds, a lawn and a well-stocked orchard, now somewhat overgrown but still a delightfully peaceful spot.

By the wall at the back of the orchard is a tiny one-room cottage with an open fireplace which has a myriad of possibilities. The high walls are covered with honeysuckle and fuschia and overhanging trees. Restoration of a genuine Victorian glass-house at the front of the house would be a labour of love. Ancient fig trees almost cover the front walls and a tall blue cedar inside the main gate protects the driveway from view.