Trudder Lodge, Newcastle, Co Wicklow, is a fine period house with eight acres of informal gardens, paddock and woodland. It has a peaceful rural atmosphere despite being just 24 miles from Dublin city centre.

The two-storey over basement six-bedroom house was built in the 1840s by a senior Church of Ireland clergyman, but he never lived there. The current owners and their predecessors have maintained the property to a high standard, and have managed to combine an old-fashioned elegance with the conveniences of modern living.

Trudder Lodge goes to auction on October 3rd through joint agents Lisney and Ganly Walters. Stuart Walker of Ganly Walters is quoting a guide price of £2 million-plus. The entrance is marked by an ornate picture-book gate lodge (also included in the sale). The meandering drive leads over a stream, by a wildlife pond and through bamboo groves and woodland, which includes some splendid purple beech. The front of the house is comparatively modest: behind its north-facing, three-bay facade, the building expands into a rather grand edifice, six windows across at the rear. Like certain country residences of the period, this is a "back-to-front" house, with the principal rooms at the back.

Inside, many of the contemporary features are intact: working shutters, marble mantels and decorative plaster cornices. The entrance hall is a perfectly symmetrical space, with six gleaming mahogany doors. There are three reception rooms, including a large drawingroom and a diningroom, both with huge south-facing windows. The massive kitchen has pitch pine cupboards, pine flooring and an Aga. Also on this level are a butler's pantry, two lavatories and a utility room.

Upstairs, the house is divided into two parts: the first has four bedrooms, three doubles with en suite bath or shower rooms, while the fourth is a single.

There are two further bedrooms and a bathroom in the other section. Downstairs, at basement level, there is a large playroom, a sittingroom, a laundry room, bathroom and study. Also on this floor are a small gym and a miniature swimming-pool with a contracurrent. The pool is in a damp-proof chamber so that no moisture reaches the rest of the house.

A charming courtyard adjoins the house, and there are several outbuildings here, including a stable block with an upstairs apartment. It comprises a kitchen, sittingroom, two bedrooms and a shower room.

Elsewhere on the property there is a half-acre walled garden and a lean-to greenhouse with peaches, apricots and a grape vine.