- 7 months ago
The Great House Revival episode 3 2025
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:01Our past is alive in our old buildings.
00:04They speak of our history and offer solid solutions for today's housing needs.
00:11I'm following restorers as they battle through the good, the bad,
00:16and the awful challenges of rebuilding ruins.
00:23Ah, lad.
00:24What an extraordinary building.
00:26It's a new bit of timber and a couple of wires.
00:30To create homes fit for the future.
00:40On a November day in 2022, I'm leaving the beaten track and heading into the woods.
00:49On the banks of Lock Quay in County Roscommon,
00:54the ghostly ruins of the Anglo-Irish Rockingham estate lurk.
01:00Between the Trees.
01:02Good day.
01:04How are you?
01:04How are you?
01:05Paddy.
01:06Very nice to meet you.
01:07Fiona.
01:07I'm here to meet Paddy Dunn and Fiona Brewer,
01:11two Dublin-based architects who are planning a future for themselves and their children,
01:16Mary and Grace, in this unusual setting.
01:20As well as embarking on the radical adventure of relocating to the middle of a fairy tale forest,
01:27they're taking on an unlikely quest.
01:30They've been bewitched by this curious building and want to make these four stark walls their own.
01:38What an extraordinary building.
01:39The detail and the quality of the stonework is extraordinary.
01:45What was the building?
01:46We think an old cow buyer, so like basically a high quality milking parlour basically.
01:51There must have been very special cows.
01:53When did you buy this and how did you buy it?
01:57We bought it early or late, 2018.
02:01There's a forest park in the estate and I've been working kind of doing adventure sports and things in the forest park,
02:06kind of as I was setting up as an architect.
02:08Paddy really loved here and he introduced me to here and this just came out and it's absolutely beautiful.
02:13So it's a protected structure, so you've had to deal with those issues?
02:19Half the roof fell in while we were buying it, so it was on its way out.
02:25When they bought the building, it was on its last legs.
02:29Trees were growing right up to the walls.
02:32They've already fought back the overgrowth and taken off the ruined roof.
02:37The cow house's 11 arches will be glazed to form large metal frame windows and doors.
02:46The existing cobbled strip will become a corridor linking the family bathroom and three bedrooms of which Fiona and Paddy's will have an en suite.
02:56The corridor will lead into the open plan living room, dining area and kitchen with a utility alongside.
03:03Fiona and Paddy will add steel to form a pitched roof using the cow house's original slates.
03:11The back windows are small and with light and issue in the woods, they have designed a roof light running the length of the building.
03:20There will be a home office in a prefabricated cabin alongside.
03:26How much should you pay for it?
03:28Under a hundred.
03:29And with that, there's a bit more land, is there?
03:32There's an acre around us, yeah, so from the road here beside us back and out to each side, we're kind of in the centre of an acre of forest.
03:40Right.
03:40So what you have is one big old shed.
03:46And I can see from here you've already done a little bit of work.
03:51There's 11 arches along this side, that's the main feature.
03:53Two of the arches had had the stone just robbed out of them about maybe 15 years ago.
03:59Yeah.
03:59So, yeah.
04:01And filled in with concrete block.
04:02Lovely.
04:03They were filled with concrete blocks, yeah.
04:04So we've had that done already.
04:07It was lovely seeing the 11 all back in a row.
04:09And I see a bit of concrete floating around.
04:12Yeah, that's recent.
04:13That's new concrete.
04:14And what's that doing?
04:15That's our ring beam to hold steel.
04:19Okay, so you have the old stone wall, you've put on a piece of concrete.
04:23A concrete cap, yeah.
04:23And that sort of holds it all together.
04:25Yeah, making it stable.
04:28Will we go inside?
04:29Yeah.
04:30Indoors and outdoors is a relative concept here.
04:34Well, you're standing in the corridor.
04:35I'm in the corridor.
04:36You're in the corridor.
04:36We kept the arches.
04:38We wanted to always see the arches rather than putting rooms up against them.
04:41Yeah.
04:41So you've all sorts of yummy things here.
04:44You've got this beautiful cut stone.
04:46Your intention for all these yummy bits?
04:50Take them out and put them back in again.
04:51Fine.
04:52Yeah.
04:52They plan to remove, clean and reset each cobble along their future corridor.
04:58Preserving materials is often more time-consuming and expensive than replacing.
05:04So I have my cobbles back and I'll have my lovely stone.
05:10Stone down the corridor.
05:11Great.
05:12And then I come to here and I have...
05:15What do I have in here?
05:16New stone from there in.
05:18The cobbles there, they're probably a bit too rough.
05:22They're kind of cow's cobbles rather than person cobbles.
05:24Yeah, yeah.
05:25And I have beautiful walls.
05:28Yes.
05:29And what happens then?
05:30The plan is to do as little as possible to leave them if we think we can.
05:36So what we want to do is just repoint the mortar joints and the walls and leave them out there.
05:42On the inside.
05:43On the inside as well, yeah.
05:44On the outside.
05:45But you know, like these old buildings, they call the shots on a lot of things and you just have to just go with it.
05:51I'm concerned that the building calling the shots might lead them towards a very cold, uninsulated home.
06:00What type of heating is going on here?
06:02The plan at the moment is underfloor heating because it's a new floor with an air-to-water heat pump and then back up from the stove.
06:12Just old-fashioned stove back up.
06:14Okay.
06:15Without insulation, these four walls could draw in the damp and the cold.
06:21That's facing north.
06:23So whether you like it or not, you're going to have to insulate that wall, the wall down there, and whatever amount of wall you leave on this side.
06:38That is being debated.
06:41If you don't insulate that wall, your air-to-water system will be working overtime and it'll negate any savings.
06:50And how much money are you spending?
06:54About $350.
06:55Okay.
06:56What's the floor area of this building?
06:58130 square metres.
07:00Roof to go on.
07:01How are you doing?
07:02Is it all timber or steel?
07:03It's timber and steel.
07:05Right.
07:05Steel frame.
07:06Yeah, with a roof like.
07:07With a roof like a whole way.
07:09Running the whole length of the building.
07:12I think what you have is extraordinary.
07:15The building is extraordinary.
07:16The pair of you are just amazing.
07:19You see a glass half full.
07:22Well, you do.
07:23And if you didn't see that, you wouldn't be doing this.
07:26Yeah.
07:26Yeah.
07:27What Paddy and Fiona have acquired is stunning.
07:36It's a dream for two architects.
07:39And they are so passionate and emotional and engaged in this project and they want perfection.
07:48They want the walls exposed.
07:50They want beautiful metal windows.
07:53They want underfloor heating.
07:54And because they're both architects, they will be driven by the detail, by the nitty gritty.
08:02And it concerns me what that will do to their timeline.
08:08I believe that Fiona and Paddy are going to have to adjust their fairytale vision to actually end up with a home that's functional.
08:18That is warm, that is warm, that is beautiful, that is meeting their exacting standards.
08:26The steel for the roof was due to arrive a week after my visit.
08:36But three months pass and there's still no sign of steel delivery.
08:41It's February 2023 and Fiona and Paddy are stuck in Dublin.
08:48They're doing their best to keep things moving.
08:51OK, perfect.
08:53Great, thanks.
08:55I'm just waiting for paint now for the trusses, whenever that gets there.
08:59So it's in the next couple of days.
09:02And then when that's in, like a week or two, then they'll all be up.
09:08So happy days.
09:09Happy days.
09:09Busting ahead then.
09:11Yeah, good.
09:12The complicated uniqueness of the cowhouse delayed the process of ordering steel.
09:19It looks like a perfectly rectangular building.
09:22And when the old roof came off, the dimensions and measurements weren't quite adding up.
09:27And we had to find where the discrepancy was so that the new steel could line up so that your gutter is lined up with your roof properly.
09:34If the gutter is around the old part and the roof is the new part.
09:36And that actually took a lot of figuring out that it's not just one discrepancy where the building was damaged at one point, but there was other little bits here and there.
09:45Figuring that out actually took a long time.
09:47Finally, at the end of March, news comes through that the steel is on its way.
09:54With the trusses weighing up to 2,500 kilos and the roofless months taking their toll, there's still a danger that these old walls could crumble.
10:05They've repaired some of the pointing and sealed the walls with a ring beam, but exposure to the elements means there are still loose stones.
10:15Paddy springs into action, jigsawing together stones from the cowhouse floor to shore up the weak points.
10:23The internal face of these walls, it's not meant to be exposed to the weather, so we've had just some issues here with over the winter.
10:33The timber, which was already full of woodworm and rot, is just starting to go a little bit too much.
10:39So with the lintels just starting to fail, you can see that they'll sag before they break.
10:45So the stone above them is coming loose, so we were just taking out some pieces.
10:48Once the roof is on, we have arranged for the stonemason to come in and work underneath it with what will then be a dry interior.
10:57He's got quite a bit of localised patching up and repairs and then repointing, replacing the mortar here in between all the stones.
11:07So yeah, he'll be here getting stuck into that, hopefully as soon as the roof is on.
11:12It's a good milestone to hit, and straight away now it's like, yeah, on with the next thing.
11:18Where today there is forest was, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the parklands of Rockingham House.
11:30Designed by Buckingham Palace architect John Nash for his supremely wealthy Anglo-Irish owners.
11:38As with many Victorian domains, the grounds were elaborately laid out to show the extent of their interest and influence.
11:48As well as follies, bridges and dovecotts, it was planted with dramatic trees from far away.
11:56Fiona and Paddy have noticed that one of these towering trees has been uprooted in the winter storms.
12:02It's been held up in the canopy, but if it falls, they see the potential to use it for timber in the house.
12:11It would be brilliant to be able to use the timber from the woods in the kitchen.
12:16And the way that we'd use it, echoing the dappled effect of the trees, but then to have it actually the tree from the woods would just be ideal.
12:26That is a western red cedar.
12:29That's kind of pretty much the ideal timber for using for construction.
12:35If it falls, it has to fall by itself.
12:38We're not supposed to, or are allowed to give it a nudge.
12:41It has to do its own thing.
12:43If we're patient, we'll get it, because it's one of the very, very last things to do, is to put the wall and ceiling finishes on.
12:51We really want to bring the forest into the house.
12:53The smell of it and the look of it and everything would just be wonderful.
12:57If this tree falls in the forest, Fiona and Paddy intend not only to hear it, but to build their kitchen around it.
13:07They couldn't afford to buy in Dublin and have always rented.
13:12But during their long wait to make their new home happen,
13:15Fiona and Paddy are lucky enough to be able to stay in Fiona's parents' house there.
13:22They're saving money by bringing as much of their existing furniture with them as possible.
13:29This chair was my first Christmas present from Paddy when we were going out.
13:33We both gave each other bits of furniture,
13:36so I think it was a sign that we were definitely going to be setting up home together.
13:41It's July 2023.
13:43Four long months since the steel roof sections went in.
13:48And at last, today work begins on constructing the roof itself.
13:54But this hulking building measures 25 metres long and over 6 metres wide,
14:00so every element of the process is on a large scale.
14:04A month later, the huge feat of re-roofing the building in its original shape is complete.
14:14But there's no progress on the interior.
14:17I'm visiting to talk to Fiona and Paddy about next steps.
14:22Good morning.
14:22How are you?
14:23Good, good, good.
14:23Lovely to see you again, Paddy.
14:24How are you?
14:25Fiona, well, all ready to move in, I'd say.
14:28Oh, yeah.
14:30I would.
14:31Yeah, you would.
14:32Fiona and Paddy are meticulously planning every element of design here,
14:37from their innovative roof fence to the way the slates meet the gutter.
14:42The glass is going to have a clean corner,
14:44and we thought we had to keep that going all the way down the slate.
14:46Yeah, and we've played with looking at the renders,
14:49what colour that gutter should be,
14:51because it's going to stand out as a clean line.
14:53Like, should it be a black?
14:54So the devil's in the detail.
14:56That's it, exactly, yeah.
14:57You know, you have the affliction about being architects.
15:00Almost half the building here is going to be open kitchen, dining, living area.
15:07Everything opening up out to the courtyard,
15:09which will be kind of an integral part to it.
15:11And then I've got a roof light in the middle.
15:14Yeah, and the roof light is running the entire length of the ridge as well.
15:17Do sections of that open?
15:18No, the roof light is fixed the whole way.
15:22So how do you get a bit of air?
15:24There is a mechanical ventilation system going in.
15:26Oh, it's a good old mechanical ventilation.
15:29Their passion for perfection is admirable,
15:32but also time-consuming and often costly.
15:36They've designed their own ventilation system
15:38and commissioned leadworks to cut sheet lead flashing
15:42to their precise specifications.
15:45Your budget was circa about 350?
15:50That was the initial estimates on it,
15:54but then increases pushed that up.
15:57And then there was grants available.
15:59There were heritage grants, which kind of evened that out.
16:01So we're sort of still kind of on track to build it as we wanted,
16:06still in the money we have available,
16:08saving away, like, the best we can.
16:11The grants have become important to you?
16:13Yes.
16:14Particularly on a project like this.
16:16They're a game-changer, yeah, on these kind of jobs.
16:18Yeah, it really is, yeah.
16:19OK, and when are you moving in?
16:22I think at the moment it probably looks like maybe sort of March,
16:27assuming everything goes in a fairly linear way.
16:32March is seven months away,
16:34but they've made big steps towards their new woodland life.
16:37They've uprooted from Dublin and moved their practice into a prefabricated cabin on site,
16:44so they can oversee the build while continuing with their paid work.
16:50Today marks another significant change,
16:53and anticipation is running high as Noel Cullen and his window team installed the signature roof light.
17:00The early versions of the roof,
17:03they had some roof light, you know, kind of standard roof lights just popped along,
17:07like little small window ones on one side,
17:09and we just felt it wasn't having enough impact,
17:11so we wanted something here that'd mirror in with the forest surroundings better.
17:14Along with the plans for glazing the arches,
17:17this bespoke 23-metre-long roof light forms the heart of Fiona and Paddy's design.
17:25The frameless triangular prism showcases the modernity of the restoration
17:30while complementing the roof's original form.
17:34Most of all, they want to let dappled forest light into every room.
17:39We're only clearing the steel by a couple of millimetres there when we're lifting up.
17:43If that touches that steel, we're in trouble.
17:45So, yeah, there is a bit of tension.
17:48Two hours of complicated manoeuvring later, without disaster,
17:53the final part of this delicate apex is lowered into place.
17:59That's it.
18:00How are you doing?
18:00Happy. Very happy.
18:03The stunning roof light seals in the building from above
18:07and brings a taste of the couple's definitive creative style to the building.
18:13But Paddy and Fiona are determined to let their unusual building lead them.
18:21To help them follow that path, I've brought them to Dublin's Renla
18:26to visit a home which, because of the tricky triangular plot on which it was built,
18:32led its owner to a truly radical design.
18:36This home stands out among the local Georgian and Victorian brick buildings
18:43with its bold lines and curves.
18:47Isn't this just amazing?
18:49It's like a spaceship.
18:50It is.
18:52Unlike the stark rectangle of their cow shed,
18:55this structure is built around a vast ellipse.
18:58It's an upside-down house, with a staircase leading from the bedrooms downstairs
19:05to a roof-deck kitchen on the upper floor.
19:09Fiona and Paddy first heard about this house when they were architectural students.
19:14I think we might be wasting time here now
19:17when we could be having a really good snoop around this building.
19:19Well, let's go.
19:21Yeah, I've wanted to see inside this house since it was built,
19:24since I was in, I think, maybe second year in college.
19:28No, there's one.
19:29I had just one.
19:29Seeing it in the flesh, it's doing more than I'd even thought.
19:33The light, the colour here, is so beautiful.
19:39Just the detail, the materials, how it all fits together
19:42and how every, every single little corner has been thought about.
19:46It's everywhere, like, it's everything.
19:48What's the next thing?
19:48It's going to be as much fun.
19:50Yeah.
19:52The level of, kind of, precision and accuracy
19:55and use of everything with purpose
19:57doesn't let up at all from top to bottom.
20:01They're letting in light to their new home
20:03via their roof light and arches.
20:06Here, a copper-walled stairwell
20:08makes the most of the sunlight from the roof terrace above.
20:12And then it comes out as this beautiful,
20:14light-reflecting, sculptural piece of art.
20:17It's just gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.
20:19I love the use of the curtains.
20:23So you have your privacy.
20:26The mirrors are brilliant.
20:28You look way down there and you can see the sky.
20:30It's inspiring.
20:31And just to see that other people go to this level of detail.
20:36Yeah, it's what we want to do.
20:37I'm looking forward to all of that now from the pair of you.
20:40Yeah, the stakes are high now.
20:42Yeah, they are.
20:43There you go.
20:44Yeah.
20:44With the design stakes roof light high,
20:52Fiona and Paddy are back to site to deal with more earthy matters.
20:57The cowhouse's sloped cobble floor must be dug up to level the surface.
21:04The building has proved to be just above bedrock,
21:08making the process harder.
21:09The floor that was in the building,
21:14you know, it was originally for animals,
21:16there were cows in it, and it wasn't going to work.
21:17So we had to take that floor out.
21:19We kind of expected to hit a certain amount of rock that had to come out.
21:23There was a bit more there than we'd hoped for.
21:25It's nine months since I first visited,
21:29and Fiona and Paddy's fairytale home is still floorless,
21:35windowless and open to the wild wood.
21:39Winter's on its way,
21:40and this building needs to be sealed in as soon as possible.
21:47The quest to tame a ruined cowhouse as their home is no easy one.
21:53They want to respect each quirky element of this unusual building
21:58and bring their eye for perfection
22:00to bear on every aspect of the design.
22:04Today, David from our rural joinery is coming to measure the arches.
22:08He's making all the windows and doors.
22:11Measuring for the windows is the most urgent thing now.
22:15We need to get the windows in before Christmas
22:16so the plastering can happen.
22:18So then finishes after Christmas and then in March.
22:24Don't know.
22:25Can't say.
22:26Scrap that.
22:28Fiona's confidence in her move-in date is wavering.
22:32How are we?
22:33Hi, David.
22:33Good to see you.
22:34Good to see you.
22:35They need windows in as soon as possible to progress.
22:39But the cowhouses, hand-built quirks,
22:43means there are no straight lines or regular curves to work around.
22:48One, six, nine, five.
22:50It's a one-off, but this is what we do.
22:52This is what we love.
22:54It's a challenge and bring it on.
22:56It's all quite specific to this job.
22:59Measuring today has to be pretty spot on.
23:02Not much wiggle room in it.
23:03Two, zero, eight, five.
23:05Fiona and Paddy are devoted to celebrating the building's original look
23:12and have designed windows which meet the stone directly.
23:16Although they will be carefully crafted to the arch measurements taken today,
23:22the windows will need straight edges.
23:25Unfortunately, the walls themselves are far from plumb.
23:29There's nothing for it but to crack out the cardboard.
23:33Usually on a new build, everything is level, so we can measure with a laser.
23:39But coming back to a stone building like this project here,
23:43we've got to go back to basics.
23:49It's going to be 14 weeks from the date of order to site.
23:53If something wasn't right, we're going to have a major delay there.
23:56Perfect.
23:57With a 14-week wait ahead, until the windows are made,
24:03the building has to be boarded up to keep out the elements.
24:07But whatever the weather, now that they're working from the site,
24:11Fiona and Paddy are fast becoming at one with the forest.
24:16There's an awful lot here that we really love.
24:17There's loads of wildlife here already.
24:19With the fox and the robins and the hedgehogs and the deer.
24:23There's a new resident here at the cowhouse.
24:29They're on site so much, Foxy, a neighbourhood fox, has adopted them.
24:34So about November, a little fox came along and she was very lame and very poorly
24:42and obviously couldn't hunt for herself.
24:44So we started looking after her and she has made her home here.
24:47As well as bonding with the local wildlife and devoting themselves to their buildings' every whim,
24:55Fiona and Paddy are keen to know all about its history.
25:00It is likely that their grandiose cowhouse was built during a period of modernisation
25:06of the Rockingham estate in the early 19th century.
25:10Their building doesn't make it to the history books.
25:14But on a frosty night, Fiona and Paddy are venturing into the forest
25:19to meet Dr Tomas Muck-Conmara who explores memories of agrarian unrest.
25:26He wants to tell them about a significant event which took place here in 1918
25:33in the run-up to the War of Independence.
25:37A group of local Republican volunteers met here with a plan to raid the big house for weapons.
25:44The night was very similar to tonight.
25:46You know, it was dark, cold time of the year
25:49and they are approaching this massive, you know, symbol of British rule in Ireland
25:54in terms of the Rockingham house and the estate.
25:58This vast stable block is all that remains of the house.
26:04The scale of the buildings, like the one beside us, one of the few remaining buildings,
26:11was just so dramatic in terms of its contrast to the way in which most Irish people lived at the time.
26:19When we were looking into the history of our building and looking at the 1911 census,
26:23I couldn't get over it.
26:25You had this massive big estate, huge, like 30 windows looking out the front.
26:30When you had all of these people living in these tiny little houses,
26:33working on the grounds, the contrast, that injustice.
26:37Fiona has a personal connection with this era.
26:40Republican leaders Cahalbrough and Terence McSwinney are both great-grandfathers of hers.
26:47Now, the orders, Fiona would have come from people like your great-granddad, you know, Cahalbrough.
26:53So, at that stage, in a state like this, they would have had a significant amount of arms.
26:57And the IRA were very short on long arms.
27:00They were really doing something tangible towards the Republican movement,
27:05towards the idea of revolution in Ireland.
27:09They first encountered the butler who opened the door.
27:12The rest of the staff were moved into one room.
27:14But it would seem from the records we have that they were fairly compliant.
27:18So, the implication there is that they maybe have been even somewhat supportive of what the fellas were doing.
27:23The arms were taken.
27:25And there's a statement I have here, which was written in 1954 by a man called James Feely,
27:30who was actually one of the men involved that night on the raid.
27:33But he writes in this statement about support and information that they got leading up to it,
27:39which may connect directly to the home that you're reviving.
27:43I have it here for you.
27:44Early in 1918, we got fed up waiting to be supplied with arms and decided that we would get them for ourselves.
27:50James Flanagan was a herdsman in Rockingham Castle.
27:53Flanagan told us that there were arms in the gunroom and gave us the details of the house.
27:57James Flanagan is obviously like a central character in the story of the raid
28:01because he takes the risk to give the information to the volunteers about the layout of the house,
28:06where the arms are in the house.
28:08You know, we can say for certainty that he would have been connected to the building
28:11and in and out of it all of the time.
28:13The ruined cowhouse may have housed the herder who made this significant raid possible.
28:19There's definitely like a lot of evidence there that there's part of the building,
28:23one section of it was divided off from the main section.
28:26Whitewash, who we might have to keep now because Flanagan.
28:29You have to keep the whitewash.
28:30Yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:31They had led a successful raid on a symbol of British rule in Ireland
28:37and it encouraged the community, it encouraged the Republican movement.
28:43The significance of that moment, the connection to what will now be your home,
28:48adds another layer of meaning and depth to your locality and now to your home.
28:53Rockingham House burnt down in a house fire in 1957.
28:59But thanks to Fiona and Paddy, the cowhouse looks set to survive another century.
29:08Back in the cowhouse by the light of day, Fiona wants to use the historic whitewash
29:13as a reference for the colour scheme for the soon-to-be-installed walls.
29:17What I'm trying to do today is match my wall paint with the pale colours in the wall.
29:32So what I want is something that's not too yellow, not too grey, a warm pale,
29:39and I want it to go everywhere.
29:40I don't want to have a contrast between ceiling and walls.
29:44We're lucky here in the tones of the limestone and the bricks,
29:49that there's a lot of warmth in them.
29:50If we were to just, say, put in a polished concrete floor where it was just grey,
29:57then you'd have a lot of grey because there's a lot of grey in the larger stones.
30:01But so if we bring some warmth in and get a lot more of those yellow tones
30:07and the terracottas and the warm tones,
30:09then I think we're moving away from the too grey, too cold then.
30:13It'll feel, hopefully, you know, like that warm, homely feeling
30:18of nestled in with cows in a cowbire.
30:22It's no wonder Fiona's focusing on creating a cosy home.
30:26It's October 2023 and a spate of storms has been battering the country.
30:35Their house is in the path of a domino-like line-up of trees.
30:40We had a few trees come down during the last two storms.
30:44I think the first storm weakened them, the second storm knocked them.
30:47The tree that we had our eye on, the western red cedar that was leaning,
30:53did fall and we were delighted.
30:55I mean, there was no guarantee that it would fall for us in time.
30:57It was moving and slowly, but it came down just at the time
31:02that was in time for us to be able to use the timber.
31:04I was flabbergasted.
31:06Myself and Paddy went for just a little walk just to check it out
31:08and it had come down.
31:10It was one of the big storms.
31:12So it will be cut soon and dried
31:15and then we'll be using it as details in the house.
31:19They've hit the tree jackpot
31:20and now we'll be able to use the local cedar wood to create their kitchen.
31:26A second Christmas has passed since my first visit
31:31and I'm calling in on my woodland friends, Fiona and Paddy,
31:35to discover how far off their project is from bursting into leaf.
31:41So it's a long time since I've been here.
31:44The roof lights in, the plaster work's really advancing, isn't it?
31:48Yeah, it's moving and looking good.
31:52For me, the big issue is what you're doing with the walls.
31:55How are you dealing with insulation?
31:57I'm concerned that without insulation,
32:00these bare walls could make for a cold home
32:03and the unfinished pointing will let in moisture.
32:07Ideally, you'd insulate lime, insulate this wall.
32:11Yeah, I mean, that's an opinion, you know.
32:15There's pros and cons for doing it, but I mean, there are...
32:19Tell me the con.
32:21The con for doing it?
32:23Is it necessary? Definitely.
32:25I don't know that it is.
32:26Yeah, like this is a major undertaking,
32:29but I just think you need to also do a little bit of practicality
32:34in terms of insulation. That's all.
32:37Yeah.
32:38I suspect this pair are opting for an extra gansey
32:41over covering up their much-loved walls.
32:45A new roof and a new floor,
32:47both of which have, you know,
32:49there's more insulation in the roof than you'd have in a new-built roof.
32:52It's about being able to live in the building happy.
32:55Your walls in your bathroom and your bedroom need to be insulated,
33:00particularly at the far end, because that'll never see the sun.
33:03And so I just think you need to think about that.
33:08But, I mean, the pointing outside, we can do that when we're moved in.
33:11Now, that's not going to stop us.
33:12Well, I don't believe you can.
33:13When you turn the heating on,
33:15if you haven't addressed the water coming through,
33:21it acts, this building will act as a siphon,
33:24and it'll literally suck the water.
33:27Yeah, but it'll suck the water through the stone
33:30if there's loads of rain continuously soaking.
33:31Yeah, but it's still getting in.
33:33I'm saying to you, you need to address the pointing on the outside
33:37because you have to stop the water getting in.
33:42It's all very well being at one with the forest,
33:44but not when the rain is dripping onto your bedline.
33:51It's March 2024, just before Paddy's day,
33:55and Paddy is feeling celebratory about a big arrival here.
34:00Windows have just arrived today.
34:03You can see some of them behind me.
34:06They're unloaded and starting to install more or two of them.
34:10There's about three days' work in installing them.
34:14It's looking good so far.
34:16It's cold and wet.
34:17It's fine for the windows.
34:18It mightn't be the best for morale.
34:20It's very unforgiving trying to put the windows in
34:23without having a plaster finish either inside or outside,
34:26so it has to be a really tight fit against the stone.
34:29There's 11 arches in total,
34:32so 11 bespoke windows going in.
34:35Unfortunately, the cold, wet weather
34:37is hindering an already intricate process.
34:41The sealing tape to fill the millimetres
34:43between the frame and the stone is not expanding.
34:46Paddy has to do an emergency dash to Carrigon Shannon
34:51in search of a specialist tool.
34:55A hairdryer.
34:58Nozzle chosen, work proceeds,
35:01but it takes a full four hours.
35:03Finally, the frames are ready to take the glass.
35:07There is a chance that there might be a problem with something,
35:11but I'm not nervous about it, honestly.
35:12The people who are working on it are really good,
35:16and if there's a problem, there's always a way to fix it.
35:21The windows will form the crowning glory of this restoration,
35:26so they are handled with extreme care.
35:29It's the worst possible outcome.
35:52An entire custom-cut pane has shattered.
35:55We had a little accident,
36:07so one of the units broke.
36:09It's difficult to say what happened exactly.
36:12We guess when we were lifting the unit into place,
36:17one of the edges touched the granite somewhere.
36:21That's the best guess.
36:22All we could see is just a million pieces.
36:26The window company will replace the glass,
36:29but it's a disappointing setback.
36:32They had hoped to move in this month,
36:34but they are having to adjust their plans.
36:37It's a shimmering July morning in the magical forest
36:47on the banks of Lockheed in County Roscommon.
36:51Twenty months have passed since I first visited
36:54the ruined, roofless cowhouse here.
36:58I'm back to visit architect couple Fiona and Paddy
37:02to find out if, despite delays and broken pains,
37:06they have achieved their ambitious vision
37:09for the old building to which they are so devoted.
37:15Approaching via the new drive
37:17and through the developing wild garden,
37:20the stunning finish of the glazed arches
37:23delivers an unexpected elegance.
37:27Goodbye cowhouse.
37:28Hello, Italianate colonnade.
37:31Good morning.
37:32How are you?
37:33Lovely to see you.
37:35How are you?
37:36Through the innovative glazed pivot front door I go
37:39and inside my breath is taken away.
37:43Wow.
37:44What do you think?
37:45I think it's stunning.
37:47The fallen tree has provided
37:49for the timber light feature on the ceiling
37:51and the kitchen doors are in red cedar veneer to match,
37:55bringing a surprising combination of softness,
37:59simplicity and cathedral-like elevation.
38:03Coming in here is amazing, you know,
38:06because I was afraid actually a bit austere,
38:09but it isn't.
38:11The idea of the timber in the ceiling,
38:13which I thought was nuts.
38:15Might be a bit nuts.
38:16Maybe it is nuts, yeah.
38:17But we like it.
38:19It works.
38:19The smell is wonderful.
38:21Mm, yeah.
38:22That's the timber from the tree just outside here
38:25that we were willing and hoping would fall over.
38:27You got your floor down, the original floor.
38:30Original floor, we sent it off to the local stone guys
38:33and got them all back
38:35and laid them all under floor heating underneath.
38:37And same with the cobbles,
38:38took all the cobbles out and laid them back in again.
38:41Yeah, and the nice thing here
38:42is your cobbles go from inside to out.
38:44So you're just taking as much of the building as it was
38:47and the best of it as it was and keeping it.
38:49This floor looks great.
38:51Yeah.
38:52We had a lot of fun picking the individual fossils.
38:57So the girls picked ones for their room.
38:59They're oysters.
39:00They're 380 million-year-old oysters.
39:02Yeah, but they're fabulous, aren't they?
39:03Yeah.
39:04I would expect nothing less than hand-selected fossil flooring
39:08from this fabulously eccentric family.
39:12Everything in this home is architectural.
39:14Yeah, and kind of unapologetically.
39:18So, you know, that is us.
39:21Yeah.
39:21Yeah, but then it's balanced against furniture,
39:25which is comfortable.
39:27And to me, it's very soft.
39:29Yes.
39:30Visually soft.
39:31And I think that complements the room.
39:33So, as I said, that feeling I would have concerned myself with
39:37about sort of it being a bit austere,
39:40it most certainly isn't.
39:42There's real heart to this home.
39:44I love the tiles in the wall and the little recesses.
39:48They came from my grandmother's house outside Balanagh,
39:53that was demolished a while ago.
39:55And there's a few little remnants of it that we've kept,
39:57so it was lovely to get things like that in.
39:59And I love that detail.
40:02Isn't it super?
40:03Isn't it?
40:03It's just lovely.
40:05Honestly, I love it.
40:06So there's lots of sophistication here.
40:10There is.
40:11It's the sort of thing where it's a lot of work
40:13to make something look easy.
40:14But you see the fact that you've kept the window out.
40:20So you've expressed the arch internally rather than externally.
40:23And the external envelope, that elevation,
40:28because you've chosen to put the windows further out,
40:33God, that's so refined.
40:35Yeah, I get it.
40:36Lads, like...
40:36They've talked through every detail.
40:42And your black conduit?
40:44I cleaned them and sent them off to the powder coaters.
40:49But it makes all the difference.
40:51Doesn't it?
40:51Yeah.
40:52Do you know, because otherwise they'd be painted.
40:54Again, you see, it's that attention to detail
40:58that's so important.
41:01Yeah, we're proud of these.
41:02Well, I'm proud of everything.
41:04Yeah, yeah.
41:04You know, unless there's a glitch down the bar.
41:07Huh?
41:08Is there a glitch down the corridor?
41:09Let's go and find one.
41:10We'll go and find one.
41:11We'll go and find the glitch.
41:12There are charming design quirks everywhere.
41:19Isn't that just extraordinary?
41:21And this is here for noise, is it?
41:24Yes, mostly.
41:25Yeah, noise.
41:25To separate this living area, say, at nighttime
41:27from bedrooms that are just there.
41:30But again, going back to the few basic big ideas
41:33of keeping all the arches in one run.
41:36Yes.
41:36So we all wanted a glass so that you could still
41:38continuously see all the arches.
41:40Yeah, because otherwise you'd have a door here.
41:42Yes.
41:43You'd be breaking.
41:44That view.
41:45Yeah.
41:45Yeah.
41:46What I think is just fabulous is when you look down there
41:51because of the location of the mirror, you see the run all the way
41:57and then it's the return, which is the return you're looking at there.
42:02So isn't that a stunning view?
42:04The pattern of the arches is just beautiful.
42:07It was made to house cows, but the builders appeared to have poured love and attention into
42:15the design.
42:16Led by the building, Fiona and Paddy have continued that tradition of simple but beautifully crafted
42:23design.
42:23The girls' bedrooms are off the cobbled corridor along with the family bathroom.
42:40The spacious main bedroom, with its roof lit en suite, has its own terrace.
42:46Herdsman James Flanagan's lime wash is faithfully preserved here, but I'm still concerned about
42:53heat.
42:54When's the insulation going on?
42:57It's funny when you come into this room, you can feel the temperature drop, can't you?
43:02It is cooler, yes.
43:03Yeah.
43:03Yeah.
43:04Yeah, no harm.
43:05This end, it's the slowest drying out.
43:07I mean, the whole place has still got lots of drying out still to do, but it's kind of progressively
43:11working.
43:12It's getting there.
43:12Funny, you can see the line of damp.
43:14We might inject a DPC if the damp doesn't go down.
43:18A damp-proof course is one thing, but I hope they will address pointing and insulation
43:24in the future.
43:25It's a lovely room though, isn't it?
43:27It's great to have.
43:28I mean, imagine lying in bed and watching the stars.
43:31The moon is fantastic.
43:33And shooting stars.
43:35Shooting stars while lying in bed.
43:37Amazing.
43:37So you dead chuffed the pair of you?
43:40Yeah.
43:41Yeah, we're delighted with it.
43:42You should be.
43:43My initial reaction when I met the pair of you was it's all going to be a bit sort of
43:49perfectionist and it'll be a bit austere and cold, but it isn't.
43:54You know, it's a real family home.
43:56And I think hats off to the pair of you.
43:58For not compromising, there's a real warmth.
44:02And as somebody else said, when you're in the house, you feel your outside.
44:06There's a real connection between the inside of the house and the setting and the outside.
44:15This home is very lucky to have you as the owners.
44:19You've really treated the building with such respect.
44:24You've taken it, taken the elements, and if you'd like, given it a 21st century makeover.
44:31Outdoors, in the forest air of their newly cleared courtyard, the scale of their project
44:38is clear.
44:40This home is slightly experimental, but that...
44:43In terms of...
44:44Not on purpose, but we just followed what was needed.
44:48You know, we didn't set out to purposely do something unusual.
44:51There were areas, yeah, where we were kind of testing out ideas.
44:54But mostly it was just listening to what the old building needed.
44:58In terms of your rating, you know, this started life as zero.
45:03And what will it become?
45:04About a C1.
45:06A C1.
45:07Which is good.
45:07It is, yeah, it's great.
45:09And when you put the insulation on the walls, you'll be in the Bs.
45:13You'll be in the Bs.
45:15And at the moment you're using a gas boiler.
45:19But you've designed it so that as heat pumps improve, you'll be able to switch over.
45:26Switch over to heat pump, yeah.
45:27I'm glad they can make the place more toasty when they've done some more saving.
45:31So you've bought the property with a bit of land around it for how much?
45:38Under £100,000.
45:39And then an overall spend of just over £400,000.
45:45So I think overall we've got good value on it.
45:49I think we're happy.
45:51They felt priced out of Dublin.
45:53But now they have the bespoke home of their dreams for about £500,000.
45:59We had to adjust what we wanted to do for inflation.
46:03And then we got to adjust things the other way as grants, relevant grants became available.
46:09Yeah, I mean, you started off and there was no grant.
46:12That's made a huge difference.
46:14Yeah, that pretty much cancelled out the inflation to allow us to do the project we had wanted to do day one.
46:21And then we made savings in other things.
46:23At the kitchen we went for X display and we got our couch and a done deal for €100.
46:30Things like that.
46:30And we've been gathering our furniture for a long time.
46:33And so we did make savings.
46:36It is amazing if you're willing to put in the legwork, how you can actually save money.
46:42But it is time.
46:43It's communication.
46:45You're working with the people.
46:46You're asking what's, you know, what's the going rate and how can I make it cheaper?
46:50And if you can cut a thousand off here and a thousand off there, they do all add up.
46:55It's a home of bargains that looks absolutely high end.
47:00You really should be very proud of the pair of you.
47:03You know, this is just a spectacular piece of architecture.
47:08To celebrate this unique home reaching full growth, the housewarming begins.
47:15This is a passion project for Paddy and Fiona.
47:20And if you like, they've invested so much time and energy into this project and questioned every detail.
47:31And have ended up with this extraordinary building, which is a delight.
47:37Far from being a sterile home, it's anything but.
47:41It's fabulous.
47:42It's really comfortable.
47:43Love to come down for the dinner party.
47:45Chill out.
47:46Amazing terrace courtyard.
47:48Like, really stunning.
47:50I have to tell you, I'm jealous standing in this home.
47:54in the hot glass.
Be the first to comment