SET against a mountain backdrop among the scenic attractions of the Moray and Dornoch firths in Sutherland, Embo House is an elegant A-listed Georgian country house situated in beautiful woodland grounds overlooking the sea. The surrounding land is flat and arable with sandy beaches just one field away.

Embo began life as a much smaller and humbler dwelling. The original six-room house, which was owned by the Gordons of Embo in the eighteenth century, now forms the west wing.

The size and grandeur of the present house stems from Robert Hume Gordon's political ambitions; he bought and extended Embo House around 1790 as part of a strategy to win a Parliamentary seat against an opponent backed by the Duchess of Sutherland.

Gordon needed a country seat that would equal the grandeur of the Duchess's Dunrobin Castle. Having completed Embo - and no doubt entertained the local electorate in grand style - he lost the election.

Strongly influenced by the fashionable New Town houses in Edinburgh, Gordon's newly completed mansion might not have swayed the voters but it clearly made quite an impact on the Rev Donald Sage who, in 1801, described Embo House as ''the most elegant mansion I have ever witnessed''.

It's easy to see why. The house takes the form of a three-storey central block flanked by symmetrical wings linked by passages. Some architectural experts believe that the classical pediment on the roofline directly above the front door may have originally been a vernacular gable which would have been typical of a Highland laird's house of the period.

The passages to the wings have round-headed windows while the house has fine sandstone detailing and white harled walls. On the west wing is an armorial stone dated 1657 bearing the arms of Sir Robert Gordon of Embo and his wife Jean Leslie.

Nearly 300 years later, Mr Sage's description is echoed by Jamie Macnab of joint selling agents Savills. ''I know it's very subjective, but to my mind it's the prettiest house I've ever been asked to sell. It's beautiful, with well balanced accommodation and land overlooking the sea.

''And though it looks very grand from the outside, inside the house is very manageable. At present the west wing is let to holidaymakers and the east wing is used for guests.''

Many of the house's original features remain intact: timber chimney pieces, staircase with turned balusters, cornices and decorative ceiling roses - even the studded original iron door latch on the front door.

The Mackintosh family, who have owned Embo House and its surrounding land for many years, are retiring to a smaller house nearby, have added a large practical farmhouse kitchen to the rear of the main hall, plus a study and shower room.

Originally, behind the house was a detached pavilion off each wing. Only the the west pavilion survived and it has been converted into a garage.

Despite its imposing facade and architecture, Embo House is well suited for modern family living. The main section has a large drawing room and a formal dining room off the central hall, and both of these rooms have window shutters. The drawing room has an open fireplace and Adam-style mantel, while the dining room has a Baxi fire with a carved timber mantel.

The dining room leads to a large kitchen with timber panelled walls and fitted floor and wall cupboards. Nearby is a fitted utility room, study and shower room with separate WC. A back door from the kitchen leads to an enclosed, paved courtyard.

The first floor houses two spacious bedrooms each with its separate dressing room and bathroom.

Stairs continue to a galleried landing with a coombed ceiling and the second floor where there are another four bedrooms - all with coombed ceilings, window shutters and fitted storage - and a bathroom which features an attractive curved window.

Entered by a passage from the drawing room, the ground floor of the east wing offers a large, L-shaped living room, inner hall, fitted kitchen and bathroom with shower. Upstairs are three bedrooms.

This accommodation is echoed on the other side in the west wing. Both wings have their own entrances to the rear and are connected to the main house by a passage. The passage from the west wing is blocked off but could easily be re-opened.

To the rear of the house is a tarmac yard, drying green and nearby, a triple garage with sliding doors and a garden shed. To the north west of the house is a formal garden enclosed by a stone wall and beech hedges. Here sloping lawns are interspersed with fruit trees, flower beds, vegetable plots, rose beds and fruit cages. There is also a paved patio near the gate leading to the house. In front of the house are lawns and mature trees with masses of bulbs which provide a profusion of spring and summer colour.

The Mackintosh family also owns the surrounding farm which the family will continue to run. However they are prepared to sell -as a separate lot a 30-acre enclosure adjoining the beach, plus 10 acres of foreshore. This land adjoins Royal Dornoch Golf Course and includes a sandy beach and the opportunity for a private jetty.

Embo House is situated just 3 miles from Dornoch on the A949 and 40 miles from Inverness via the A9.

Dornoch's most famous claim to fame is the Royal Dornoch Golf Course, which borders Embo's land. Nearby is another golf course that is part of entrepreneur Peter de Savary's development of Skibo Castle into one of the country's most exclusive country clubs.

Joint selling agents Savills and Inverness-based solicitors Macleod & Maccallum invite offers over #345,000 for Embo House, and offers over #40,000 for the additional 40-acre coastal land.