Cam Lodge in Kilquade, Co Wicklow, is a charming dormer bungalow built during the 1940s in a Russian style prevalent in the area.

The house was designed by the Russian architect Ivan Giltsop, who contributed to the development of Kilquade's Russian Village, where some of its most expensive houses are located. Cam Lodge, a three-bedroom house, carries a guide price of £650,000. It will be auctioned by Jackson-Stops on June 1st.

Situated about a mile off the N11 dual carriageway, the house has all the advantages of being in a beautiful rural setting, while still being within an hour's drive of Dublin.

It comes with about an acre of carefully-tended gardens, filled with countless unusual plants and trees. A shelter belt of tall conifers keeps the property shielded from the wind, and allows tender specimens, such as the fantastic, scarlet-flowered Chilean fire-bush, to thrive. The garden has won several awards over the years and is a joy to stroll around. A lush green lawn wraps around the house, while secluded areas are home to soft fruit, herb and vegetable patches, and a small greenhouse.

The greenery-surrounded cottage is a long, low, white-washed building with a cedar-shingle roof. Most of the windows have picturesque leaded panes. Inside, the ceilings are beamed and coved, while the doors and woodwork are mainly of dark-stained pitch-pine. Altogether, a cosy, rustic atmosphere pervades the interior.

The new owners will wish to update the kitchen and make some other modernisations, but they would be well-advised to keep to the simple decor that is perfectly suited to this house.

The house is orientated so that the main rooms face south, and look on to the lawn and garden. The front door, sheltered by a glazed porch, is on the north-facing side. It opens into a room-sized hallway, enlivened by a stained-glass panel set into a leaded window. A family bathroom is off to one side.

The main living-cum-dining-room is a large, friendly room. The fireplace has a sloping hood, while a long, wide bay window lines the south-facing wall. French doors lead on to a sun-trap flagstone patio that borders the house on this side. A door opens into a series of kitchen rooms: a storage area, a small kitchen, a walk-in larder and a boiler room.

A steep, wooden staircase rises from the main room to two enchanting double bedrooms nestling in the roof-space. Back downstairs again, and on the other side of the entrance hallway, is a second sitting-room with a south-facing bay window. Next to this is a lovely bedroom suite with an enormous bedroom (again with a south-facing bay), a separate bathroom, and an atrium that is large enough for a small study or dressing-room.

Also on the property are a garage, with whitewashed walls and shingle-roof to match the house, and a swimming-pool in need of a new liner.