Asking price: €1.95m Agent: Lisney Sotheby’s (021) 4278500 While shaped like a bog-standard rural bungalow, a closer look at Zinc House at Templenoe in Kenmare, Co Kerry, shows that it has a whole lot more going on under the bonnet. In terms of energy saving, contemporary fit out and interactive technology; it would be hard to find a one-off house in The Kingdom as cutting edge as this one. There’s also the location on a golf course, and the views of Kenmare Bay. All reflected in the asking price of €1.95m. Zinc House has a blade sharp zinc roof which gives the house a svelte appearance (and its unusual name). “Zinc looks good, it’s guaranteed for 125 years and it allows for a really thin roof line,” says its owner, Manchester-born businessman and property developer James Mitchell. Mitchell says he always intended building the perfect house for himself as an addition to his development plan for the Ring of Kerry Golf Course at Templenoe. Mitchell got going on the course back in the 1990s with help from the legendary Eddie Hackett, who designed the 120-acre facility. At the time, the scheme also included a club house building and a restaurant. Mitchell later got permission for a cluster scheme of 29 homes. Running the golf course (despite not ever being a player himself ) took up a lot of his time along with various business interests run at home and abroad with his firm Tango Investments. “Mostly we develop bars and restaurants but we have some other interests too. While I never played golf, it was always fun being involved in the course. It’s a people business and I always enjoy that.” With both parents hailing from Sligo, Mitchell has always been at home in Ireland. But with so much on, he didn’t get around to building that perfect home until quite recently. “I got permission for the house well before I sold the golf course, three years ago in August. I had always intended building a home there to take advantage of the site, which looks over the sea, and the location is perfect for Kenmare. I wanted a contemporary square glass box on top of another glass box but the planners weren’t having any of it “I wanted a contemporary square glass box on top of another glass box but the planners weren’t having any of it.” To keep the planners happy, Mitchell had to ‘disguise’ it as a more typically generic home. “So the design I ended up with sort of appears to be a bungalow from distance, but it’s absolutely far from that.” From his own firm’s resources, Mitchell called on the design skills of architect Michael Hoad. “We are constantly designing buildings; it’s something we are used to,” he says. “My objective was to come up with the most eco-friendly and smartest modern home that could best take advantage of the views.” And they are quite something. To the east, the house looks at the undulating terrain and rocky shoreline of Kenmare Harbour. To the south, it faces the silhouette of the MacGillycuddy Reeks, while the jagged peaks of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula frame the horizon to the west. Then there’s the more immediate views of the golf course itself. “The house sits looking on to the first hole fairway. You can also see two, eight, nine and ten from the house. “But it’s also far enough away that you won’t get a golf ball through your window. The occasional one makes it to the garden but that’s it.” For a golfing enthusiast who dreams of living on the course, the Zinc House would seem to offer the full package, hook, line and sinker. Mitchell’s split-level, four-bedroom home with three bathrooms spans 2,300 sq ft. Its A2 rating also puts it almost at the top of the energy saving tree. The house took 18 months to finish, primarily because Mitchell wanted the best of everything to go into it. “A lot of what I wanted wasn’t available in Ireland and had to be ordered specially from abroad. For some items there was a long lead in time. “But I wasn’t in any rush. The Schuco windows and sliding doors, for example, came from Germany. They make the best windows and doors in the world with the capacity to open right across. When it came to the smart technology, a lot of that had to be brought in from the UK.” The Zinc House has also been wired with individually zoned rooms where the lighting, temperature and such can be changed individually by remote control. With a low-pitch roof and split-level layout, it is designed to maximise function and form. The primary living area, main bedroom, and kitchen are all positioned at the front come with huge floor-to-ceiling heights and the triple-glazed Schuco panes open up the landscape from most spaces. In the summer, these open right back to bring the outdoors inside without letting in the rain. The same triple-glaze offers protection from the worst winter conditions the wild Atlantic can throw at it. The house has an underfloor heating system run off the air-to-water model. Enter through a modern lobby situated on a slightly elevated mezzanine level. From here, you can look down on to the open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area below you, a serious of interconnecting, double-height spaces which is the heart of the home. There are four bedrooms in total, two of which are en suite, offering privacy and luxury to residents and guests alike. The main bedroom, positioned to the side, has patio access via a glazed door, a modern en-suite bathroom and walk-through wardrobes. The house comes with two acres of landscaped gardens. Templenoe has its own t beach and a pier while Kenmare is 7km away. Farranfore Airport is a 50-minute drive away and Cork Airport 80 minutes. Mitchell has found himself travelling more with his work. “I’ve been based pretty much out of St Lucia in the Caribbean and the UK, so I’m not getting the use out of it.” So he has placed Zinc House on the market. Lisney Sotheby’s seeks €1.95m.