The second bedroom is freshly decorated in blue and white, as befits a seaside home.
But the final version is a triumph, all light and open space, with no fewer than six sets of French windows giving access to the garden on three sides of the house. Our photographs were, almost unbelievably, taken on a gloriously still, sunny day in January, and we kept the windows open for most of the day.
You have to spend a few hours in this place before you become aware of some subtler points. Unlike a true Manx house it has no piping on the outside; vents go up though the ‘chimneys’, downspouts from the gutters are concealed within the walls.
Inside, even in winter, you feel pleasantly warm but are puzzled to observe that the gas stove has not been lit and there are no radiators to be seen. Draughts are kept out by the snuggest of uPVC double glazing on all the doors and windows, and all the warmth you could want is supplied is supplied through the marble and timber floors by an underfloor heating system. Once you have experienced this you would really never want to live any other way; the ambient heat is entirely even, and there are no overheated radiators to shrink nearby furniture or damage the hands of small children.
