17 The Park

17 The Park is a detached dormer bungalow at Onchan, set back behind its own lawn on a road named for the green it faces. A family house rather than a styled holiday let, with the room to prove it.

You pull onto a block-paved drive that runs past a clipped shrub bed to an integrated garage, with space for a second car. The house is rendered and stone-faced, leaded windows in deep red frames, a single dormer above the porch. Mature trees stand on the parkland opposite.

Two sitting rooms and a red-tiled kitchen

The kitchen is the surprise: pale timber units, dark worktops and a wall of pillar-box red tiles behind the hob that lifts the whole room. It opens into a tiled dining area with a round table; a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer handle a longer stay. There are two separate lounges, each with a fireplace and a bay window, one done in florals and the other greyer and squarer around the television. Behind them a full-width conservatory, glazed on three sides and furnished with cane chairs, faces the lawn.

The double and the two twin rooms

Three bedrooms sleep up to six. One takes a double bed against a patterned botanical wall; the other two are twins, one with a low armchair pulled up to the window. Linen and towels are provided, there is an additional toilet besides the main bathroom, and stairs lead to the upper floor.

The lawn and the parkland over the road

Front and back are laid to grass, with outdoor furniture and a dining set for still evenings. Between garage and drive, parking is never a question.

Onchan, and the town next door

Onchan is a town in its own right, sitting immediately next door to Douglas, and Douglas Beach is within walking distance.

Two families, one bungalow

Two families sharing, or one with grandparents along. With two lounges and a conservatory, nobody has to agree on the television.