Born in Busselton, a mid-sized town in the south-west region of Western Australia,[1] House was a talented schoolboy cricketer, captaining a representative Australian Schools team on a tour to India during the 1966–67 season.
House made his first-class debut in that season's Sheffield Shield, in a match against Victoria at the WACA Ground.
[3] A leg-spinner and competent[citation needed] lower-order batsman, he and Paul Nicholls worked in tandem as Western Australia's spinners during the match.
Though hoping to gain more regular selection, he only played twice at first-class level for South Australia—once against Queensland and once against England on its 1974–75 tour of Australia.
[5] Returning to Busselton, House played Australian rules football in the local South West Football League (SWFL) for Busselton, taking out the club's best and fairest award in 1976 and was captain of the club when it won the grand final in 1978.