Sheerghlass

Sheerghlass stands by itself at Pooil Vaaish, white-rendered, on the low green shelf between the road and the water. From the shingle it reads all at once: two storeys, a chimney at either end, a flag snapping over the wall.

You arrive onto lawn that runs right round the building, with a paved terrace cut into it and a round picnic table on the flags. There is room to leave the car, and the door opens into the big room.

Under the vaulted ceiling

The main living space rises the whole height of the house. A wrought-iron chandelier hangs from the ridge, roof lights let the sky in, and a wood burner sits on its hearth with French doors either side. Flagstones give way to boards, and an open staircase with a steel rail climbs to a gallery. A second sitting room, quieter and softened with rugs, has a fireplace of its own. The kitchen is white and businesslike on black slate, sailing boats tiled behind the hob.

White rooms, long windows

The house sleeps four, and both bedrooms are made up with an extra-large double. They are plain in the best sense: white walls, wooden floors, windows framing grass and water. There is a bath, a separate shower room and an additional toilet, with robes and towels.

The lawn, the terrace and the shore

The terrace takes the afternoon sun and the picnic table seats everyone at once, while beyond the wall the ground falls to a stony beach. On a clear evening the sky over the sea does what the photographs show.

Pooil Vaaish and the road into Castletown

This is the quiet limestone south, farmland running down to a rocky shore, and Castletown with its harbour is the nearest town. Port Erin Beach, Chapel Bay and Fleshwick are an easy drive round the coast.

Who it works for

Two couples, or a family with small children (there is a high chair), who want room to spread out, a fire to sit by and nobody overlooking them.