Property 3/9/11

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Property 03.09.2011

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& Interiors

Copper immersion A Tralee home gains from mature planting

PLUS • MARKET MOVERS • STYLISH HOMES • GET THE LOOK • ANTIQUES • STEP BY STEP DIY

Photo by Denis Scannell

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PROPERTY

HOUSE WEEK OF THE

Tommy Barker reports

Pictures: Ted Murphy

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HERE’S a lot of homogeneity about Irish These white-render and red-brick detailed houses house design, with very little variation from are wide, rather than deep, and so the best room is the the standard — and that’s why something as main reception, running front to back on the left hand mildly tweaked as the house designs at side of the entry hall, a decent size at 21’ by 13’, and Charlemont Heights stand out. bright thanks to its double aspect. The kitchen/dining Built over 20 years ago, in the late 1980s, these big, room is also bright, thanks to its southerly aspect, and detached Rochestown Cork suburban homes on has a family room alongside, with patio doors flooding sloping sites and with a slight split-level interior, it further with light, and the house’s other main looked refreshingly different for their day. They still reception is a den with a difference. This room, almost have that individuality, tucked away down and the design has stood a few stairs off the Location: Rochestown, Cork the test of time. hallway, is private, Price: €595,000 In fact, if anything, cosy, and a good they’ve improved with place to keep a Size: 186 sq m (2,000 sq ft) maturing landscaping, weather eye out Bedrooms: 4 giving a bit of space and towards the screening from one entrance drive too.

BER rating: Pending another: case in point is These Broadband: Yes No 10, a good example of Charlemont Charlemont’s strengths.

Heights houses Best featture: Distinctive look, great gardens This c 2,000 sq ft home, are, indeed, being sold by a family elevated as the who bought it new 22 years ago and who are now ‘heights’ name suggests, set half way up Coach Hill downsizing, is on great gardens, making the most of above the Rochestown Road, and there are views of the its one-third of an acre site, mostly to the back.

Mahon estuary, and to the bright lights of relatively They’ve been carefully tended, and thoughtfully recent building arrivals at Mahon Point and adjacent planted with a mix of herbaceous and perennial office business parks — the fastest growing city plants, crowned by a century-old spreading beech tree quadrant of the past decade. at its site extremity. In between, the garden is The current owners made regular trips to Cork effectively on two tiers, with glasshouse, private Airport and the subsequent ease of access to the south lawned areas, and criss-crossed by gentle wending city ring road and tunnel really came to add to the paths, and bulwarked by a south-aspected patio to the ease of living in this setting. In the meantime, back of this broad home.

Rochestown’s continued growth has seen a new No 10 is new to market with agent Ann O’Mahony of primary school opened further up the hill at Sherry FitzGerald, who says it’s an ideal trading-up Garryduff, while for sports and recreation fans, there’s option for a new family of occupants. the facilities at Garryduff itself, plus walks and cycles

CONTENTS 4

TRADING UP Two Cork houses have space for tennis courts or even small football pitch.

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STARTER HOMES A lyrical Macroom home is full of colour and greenery.

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FEATURES A period home could suit a Ballymaloetype guest and food business.

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COVER STORY The decision to knock and re-build from scratch created a Kerry stunner.

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behind in the woods, and down along the estuary towards Blackrock/Mahon, and east toward Passage, all along the old rail line.

Back indoors at No 10, there’s little to be spent, bar on personal choice/discretionary items. It’s spotlessly clean, and has good bones with all the essentials in situ: there are four bedrooms, one en suite, a guest loo and a main family bathroom with a vibrant, striped carpet — a sure sign there are no small children left at home!

Heating is gas fired, windows are double glazed and external maintenance comes to little more than topping up the render with white paint every few years.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

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VERDICT: A solid buy, good to go.

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HOME OFFICE DIY IN THE GARDEN ANTIQUES CLASSIFIEDS

PROPERTY EDITOR Tommy Barker, 021 4802221 property@examiner.ie INTERIORS EDITOR Esther McCarthy, 021 4802386 interiors@examiner.ie INTERIORS ADVERTISING Ger Duggan, 021 4802192 interiorads@examiner.ie PROPERTY ADVERTISING Marguerite Stafford, 021 4802100 marguerite.stafford@examiner.ie

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PROPERTY

TRADING UP

STARTER HOMES

Colour in abundance as extended cottage is sure to lift your spirits

We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country

Close to Macroom, this property can be yours for around €180,000, Tommy Barker reports

BOREENMANNA ROAD €199,000 Sq m: 102 (1,100 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

DONNYBROOK, CORK €245,000 Sq m: 126 (1,359 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes

NEW, new, new — there’s a lot of newness going on at 13, The Fairways in Bracken Court, up the hills from the bustling suburban village of Douglas in Cork.

Newly up for sale here with agent Jeremy Murphy and Associates is this four-bed detached priced at €245,000, and showing the signs of recent spending in time for its public viewings.

It has had new carpets, some new wooden flooring, a new kitchen, and a re-fitted new bathroom with three-piece suite and re-tiling as part of its overall freshening-up.

The two-storey, part-brick fronted house is on a bit of a sloping site, with front lawn and drive up to an attached garage, with immediate conversion potential, and the back garden and patio are south facing.

Rooms include a front living room, rear kitchen/diner with Shaker oak units, and a lounge off it, and there’s also garage access off the kitchen — so ideal for those who want to add a play room, or a utility and guest WC, as currently there’s only one main family bathroom.

VERDICT: While there’s extension potential down the line, the fact it has all been freshened up means it is an immediate move-in proposition right now.

BEAUMONT, CORK €345,000

FARNOGE, KILKENNY €279,000 Sq m: 140 (1,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

Sq m: 107 (1,150 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

Sq m: 153 (1,650 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes

BUILT in the 1980s, and almost doubled in size when upgraded four or five years ago, this Co Kilkenny bungalow home has a good balance of living space for those who don’t need loads of bedrooms.

It manages to fit in three reception rooms, notes David Gough of Ennis Gough in adjacent county Waterford and who has a sole agency on the new-to-market arrival at Farnoge, near Mullinavat.

The well-finished home, rewired, replumbed and generally upgraded, is on a lovingly-kept site of threequarters of an acre at the foot of Tory Hill, with courtyard, and has a long raised terrace opening up rolling views over south Kilkenny.

There’s a smart new kitchen in creamy colours, three bedrooms, three reception rooms, two bathrooms plus utility, and there’s a detached garage.

It is priced at €279,000 and measures 140 sq m.

The quiet setting is entirely rural, but the M9 is nearby with easy access to Dublin (about an hour to the M50) and Waterford city is a 20 minute drive.

YOU could probably fit a tennis court in the back garden of this suburban home — the auctioneers claim it’s “a spectacular 170’ long.”

And, the fact there’s an extra bit on the side that runs along the site’s full length should allow new owners go acourting, as the recognised international size for a tennis court is 78’ long, and 36’ wide.

That garden size helps Upper No 62 Beaumont stand out from the normal run of suburban semis (although another Beaumont home on the market nearby has a mini-tennis court in its back garden) — this is clearly a location where the original house builders gave more bang for your buck when it came to parcelling out house plots.

Selling agent for No 62 is Joe Gavin of James G Coughlan, who guides at €345,000, and says the location is great for families, with schools and shops all to hand, as well as public parks, pitch and putt, GAA, and even a few tennis clubs in the neighbouring Blackrock and Ballinlough locales.

The house is fairly standard and typical of the original build era other than its large site size, with two reception rooms, three bedrooms and one bathroom.

IF a house on this page here has probable space for a tennis court, this Whites Cross bungalow home can go one better — it is heading up to soccer pitch size.

Located out at Ballynoe, Whites Cross, a couple of miles out from Cork’s northside via Ballyvolane, this L-shaped detached four-bed home is on a site of an acre, most of it level and in lawn out the back, ready for a set of goals.

It will, however, be shy of the official soccer pitch size of 100 yards by 60, which is 1.35 acres by our reckoning (and thanks to www.sportsknowhow.com) Selling agent Michael O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald says it has had lots of upgrading recently, such as rewiring, and the kitchen and bathroom are bang up to date too, while windows, fascias and soffits have been given the PVC once-over also.

And, while the BER survey is being done, is should come in a bit up the scale from what it would have been, thanks to investment in attic and walls insulation.

Mr O’Donovan says the layout, with three reception rooms and one of its four bedrooms en suite, is user-friendly and well-balanced.

VERDICT: The extension has made for a far more comfortable and spacious home, it’s ready to roll.

VERDICT: You could extend to kingdom come out the back and still have garden left over.

VERDICT: Set back off the road, it has a quiet setting, with rural views, about a 10 minute spin from Cork city.

BLACKROCK, CORK €290,000 HOT on the heels of a recent successful house sale on the corner of Cork’s Blackrock Road and Crab Lane is the detached Crab Lane bungalow Glenville.

New to market with agent Timothy Sullivan at €290,000, it’s a three bed with a surprising 1,480 sq ft, in need of modernising and thus further expenditure.

The location alone usually ensures good viewing interest; just by the main Blackrock Road end of the lane, an early 1900s extended semi-d with everything done (plus a David

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WHITES CROSS, CORK €360,000

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

Sq m: 137 (1,480 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

Kiely kitchen) has sold already since a May market launch with Jeremy Murphy Associates. With 2,500 sq ft of space, but on a compact site, it was guided at €590,000, and is likely to have sold in the low to mid €500,000s.

VERDICT: You could easily sink €100,000, or multiples of it, even, into Glenville, extending or even doubling in size, going two-storey, etc as the site is big enough to justify it.

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

WITH a house close by bid up from €200,000 to €290,000, selling agent ERA Downey McCarthy has substantially reduced Dun Mhuire to encourage the same bidding action. And while the former property is now sale agreed after a flurry of fast bids, there’s currently a bid of €180,000 on this Willow Lawn house which comes with a revised guide of €199,000.

VERDICT: At the right price and with the right amount of work, Dun Mhuire could be a very good investment.

CORK CITY €95,000 Sq m: 70 (750 sq ft) BER rating: G

YOU know you’re in an venerable, old city house

Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes from the inside of 1, Nicholas Hill in Cork city — it’s full of exposed stone and brick, most of it painted white for brightness. The threestorey, four-bed city home is at the foot of the steep hill off Douglas Street, guided at €95,000 by agent Lucy Wolfe, who says it’s the first sub€100k offering here for years.

It needs work (eg central heating) to make it more comfortable, but has character in spades.

VERDICT: City pad, but only a tiny, wheelie bin-sized back yard.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Best feature: THANK heavens for colour — and this extended cottage on an acre has it in abundance, enough to lift the gloomiest of spirits.

And, not only is there life in the colours it is painted up in, there’s also vigorous growth in the deliberately planted ivy bearding its facade, and in pot plants inside and out.

Located four miles west from Macroom in midCork at Ballymacorcoran off the Millstreet road, this is a three-bed with attitude, all done up, and is for sale with agent Killian Lynch seeking offers around€180,000 which, he says, reflects the high standard to which the work has been done.

It has two reception rooms (living and dining, off

Macroom, Cork €180,000 121 sq m (1,300 sq ft) 3 Pending Vibrancy

the kitchen) plus study, kitchen with oak units, Belfast sink and ceramic tiled floor, there’s a utility with guest loo alongside, and both reception rooms have wood floors, with a stove in the dining space, and a range in the living room.

Externally, it looks as if the dwelling has been doubled in size, with a similar shape with pitched roof added on to the rear, with a porch in between, graced by an appropriate timber half-door, glazed on top.

VERDICT: The house has all the work done to it, and an acre is always going to keep a pair of capable hands busy.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

Wilton, Cork €230,000 Sq m 99 (1,100 sq ft) 4 Pending Yes Designer quality decor

Touch down where the eagles land LIXNAW, KERRY €160,000 Sq m: 154 (1,650 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 5 Broadband: Yes

IT clearly pays to move to a quiet area — how about a modern five-bed, three-bath home on half an acre, with garage/workshed and fuels storage sheds, all for €160,000? Almost €90,000 has been taken off the price of this detached home in a rural setting, a mile or two from Lixnaw, between Tralee and Listowel in Kerry.

The peaky dormer house has scenic views, a peaceful setting, and a well-finished interior, say agents Sherry FitzGerald Stephenson Crean.

VERDICT: There’s a price to be saved with solitude.

This reduced price family home is in super-smart order. Tommy Barker has the details A CHANGE of agent, and €50,000 lopped off the asking price should bring 11 Eagle Valley back on the radar of first-time buyers, who can now afford a four-bed quality home for the sort of sum apartments were fetching five years ago.

Newly listed with Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald. this is a decent-sized family home, in a part of Cork — Wilton — where sales have always been strong. That’s down to proximity to the CUH, Wilton Shopping Centre and the ring road (with a new flyover set to ease commuting woes in a year’s time or thereabouts) The owners of No 11 want to move across the city, back to family roots, and have done everything to

make their home a walk-in job for new owners, with good quality Junkers floorings and an oak kitchen with adjoining dining rom. The main front reception is a good 18’ by 11’, with a fireplace plumbed for gas.

The ground floor also includes a ground floor guest loo with shower.

No 11 is positioned in a cul de sac towards the front of Eagle Valley, and has off-street parking, front garden, and side access to the enclosed, west-facing back garden which is pretty low-maintenance, with gravel borders and lots of decking.

VERDICT: A lot of good house for the money.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

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PROPERTY

Exceptional good value of Leonora draws interest at home and abroad Co Tipperary property has an asking price in excess of €175,000, Trish Dromey reports

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HE charms of Leonora in north Tipperary have already attracted the attention of UKbased Irish house hunters, who made summer plans to come to Portroe especially to see it.

Such is the level of interest in the spacious detached house with half an acre of gardens, that selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Talbot expect to sell it ahead of its scheduled auction date on September 30.

The asking price of in excess of €175,000 offers exceptionally good value and the property is attractive to local buyers looking to trade up, says

auctioneer William Talbot who’s also showing the house to the UK buyer, a returning local who wants a holiday/ retirement property. The stone-faced 1980s house takes its name from the couple who built it, Leo and Nora.

Offering in the region of 1,800 sq ft of space, it’s been well maintained but now needs updating and some modernisation. The selling points include very attractive gardens bounded by a river and woodland. The fact that the three bed property also has planning permission for an additional two bedrooms adds to its appeal.

A large open plan space on the

Relatively easy job to add extension to this Douglas home, Tommy Barker reports

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HEN the man doing the viewings of 6 Endsleigh says it has (in that hackneyed estate agency description) ‘potential,’ he is wearing two hats to underpin his judgement.

Due to qualify as a professional architect this autumn, young twentysomething Andrew Guerin has spent holiday periods over the past few college years showing houses for sale — a sort of payback to his dad, Dennis

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Guerin who’s MD of Frank V Murphy & Co auctioneers.

Given his sales experience, and his design training, Andrew’s as qualified as most to see that elusive potential in houses — and No 6 starts off with good bones, decent-sized rooms, and a more than decent site size too, he approves.

And, with sales hat back on, the location just off Cork’s Douglas Road (by the recently re-opened Maxol garage) is ace.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

PROPERTY FEATURE

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

ground floor includes a 400 sq ft living room with a floor-to-ceiling fireplace and a double height ceiling. There’s also a dining area with a vaulted ceiling and kitchen with fitted units and a beamed ceiling. To the rear, the house has a utility room and a sunroom which opens out in to the garden. A set of stairs leads down to an office, two bedrooms and a shower room.

Another set of stairs leads up to to a galleried area which has a bedroom with built-in wardrobes and a shower room. The planning permission obtained by the owners allows for the conversion of the vaulted area over the

Endsleigh property has potential

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Period home has it all

Rathclare House near Kanturk, Co Cork, can be transformed into a Ballymaloe-type enterprise with the right people in charge, writes Rose Martin

living room into two additional en suite bedrooms.

In the gardens there’s a lofted garage, a pump house, a store and a glass house. There are also extensive lawns, mature trees, shrubs and plants as well as a patio at the rear.

Located at Castletown, Leonora is one and a half kilometres from both Lough Derg and the village of Portroe, and 12 kms from Nenagh.

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VERDICT: You could see Lough Derg from the house — if it weren’t for the trees, and you’ve a stream for compensation.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

The west-aspected house, near Regina Mundi girls secondary school and facing a green strip with a tall cedar tree on it, needs pretty much everything upgraded: there hasn’t really been a lot spent on it in its five decades of existence. It has two reception rooms with fireplaces, a basic kitchen/diner, with utility off and basic loo, and main bathroom upstairs with shower (no bath,) and four bedrooms.

Andrew Guerin says it would be a

Portroe, Tipperary €175,000-plus 167 sq m (1,800 sq ft) 3 Pending Yes Waterside oasis

Douglas, Cork €350,000 130 sq m (1,400 sq ft) 4 Pending Yes Strong location

relatively easy job to add a two-storey extension, in lieu of the 17’ by 7’ 9” garage, and drops the words ‘zinc roof ’ and ‘open-plan spaces’ into the suggestion box.

A handful of the few dozen Endsleigh houses have already extended like this.

VERDICT: Great location, great prospects, but you’ll need a good architect to make best use of out of the east-facing rear aspect.

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required of a period property — proper Downton HAT price an 18th century period Abbey, in other words — but without the price tag. property, in the sort of setting that has And yet the house is easily managed and not too viewers of period dramas drooling? And, big, there are a range of lovely reception rooms on the then consider a whole raft of old stone ground floor, an old kitchen with original layout and a buildings, including worker’s cottages and an acre of range of sculleries, five light and bright bedrooms, walled gardens? including one which was converted to, and remains a How about €695,000? sort of private chapel/ meditation space.

Not bad, is it, for an ivy-clad, manageable property Add to that a long library extension and a casual that has splendid isolation but is still just a walk to function room/ sunroom space stretching to the back the town of Kanturk and a quick drive to Mallow, of the house and you have a multi-faceted property. with its mainline rail connection.

Also, there are old cottages which could be A young couple with fervour, a few bob and a backconverted, along with the to-earth belief could turn this grand old farmyard. house into a River Cottage or Location: Buttevant, Co Cork The acre of walled garden a Ballymaloe-esque enterprise Price: €695,000 is impressive and could be with the right attitude.

Size: 327 sq metres (3,500 sq ft) highly productive in the right Rathclare House is elegant) Bedrooms: 5 hands and the adjoining 18 is perfectly situated on the acres is enough for a smallmain road between Cork and BER rating: Pending holder to be getting on with.

Limerick and is a fully Broadband: Yes The house is set behind functional, family home which ancient trees and has a has been occupied by the same Best feature: Period charm riverside position looking family for over two centuries. onto the Awbeg with a very attractive driveway.

Originally a mid-18th century property and part of Set above the river, with a ha-ha, (a trompe l’eoil the Earls of Egmont estate, Clare Cottage was initially device that gives a level view, but hides a steep, stocklet to the Norcott family and later to a Martha Bullen, proof slope to the house) the driveway opens onto a who occupied the house in the 1850s, according to NUI large balustraded terrace which provides south-west Galway’s Landed Estates Database. views over the fields leading down to the water — and A much larger house was constructed in the mid 19th century, and it incorporated the original building there’s 350 metres of river frontage included.

The drive circles to the inner and outer farmyards in the new design. It was purchased by Canon David and to the land, which is laid out in four paddocks.

Burdon in 1886 and, since then, Rathclare House has remained in the Burdon family.

VERDICT: Rathclare House has all the elegance and Now downsizing, the decision has been made to sell features of a true country house, but on a human scale the estate through agent Michael Daniels who is — buyers looking for a project with benefits, might offering the five-bed, 3,500 square foot home on 18 cast an eye over the property through Michael H acres at its very realistic guide.

Daniels and Co. Rathclare House has all of the attributes that are

BER RCH

WANTED PROPERTY IN

SCHULL ■ Near to Schull Village ■ House or site considered ■ Qualified buyer with bank approved mortgage ■ Your privacy is assured Please email your information to:

Schullproperty@gmail.com IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

A modern home in harmony with its surroundings Strong design, personal touches and stunning views have resulted in a house of dreams. Margaret O’Brien reports Pictures: Denis Scannell

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HE Spa is a very scenic location overlooking Tralee Bay, with the added benefit of a majestic mountain backdrop.

Maura Hennessy had set her cap on finding a site in this area just a few minutes drive from Tralee and succeeded in doing so, some years ago.

She bought a site replete with a 1970s style bungalow.

Although she initially toyed with the idea of refurbishing the house, it was too far removed from her dream home, so she opted instead to have it demolished and to build from scratch.

She consulted local architect John Phelan of John Phelan Architects Tralee.

“He had a strong portfolio of one-off, self-build projects unlike many other architects who turned their back on that kind of work during the boom to concentrate on commercial work,” observes Maura.

Her brief to John was clear and simple: to design a modern home that works in harmony with its surroundings while also maximising the flow of natural light into the house.

While the original house was razed, Maura did her utmost to preserve the wonderfully mature garden, including the high hedges and trees that bestow a total sense of privacy on the site. As she points out, “Having an instant mature garden is a real asset”.

Her determination to save the garden has paid dividends.

From the ground floor living quarters, the views of the lush, well-stocked garden are both relaxing and inspirational.

As with many modern designs, the splendour of the architecture is reserved for the owners and visitors, because the best views of both the house and its setting are to the rear of the property.

Sweeping glazed panels extend from plinth to roof level

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in two distinct volumes linked by a lower level, extensively glazed, copper-roofed lobby, which houses the stairs and also acts as a link from the main front door entrance to the rear of the house.

Both volumes feature striking balconies, located off

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

the first floor bedrooms, which successfully connect the outside to the inside.

Maura has a love of all things modern, which is apparent from her choice of furnishings and fittings. Her large open plan living, dining room and kitchen is home to some

cutting edge, quirky and contemporary pieces of furniture and fittings.

The crisp, white Schmidt kitchen with its clean lines, is fitted with state-of-the-art Miele appliances. Besides its sleek design, one of the things Maura likes best about her kitchen is the amount of storage space it offers.

Casual eating can take place around the island unit, while more formal meals are taken in the dining area around the sociable oval table with its matching, funky white tulip swivel chairs which Maura sourced at Objekt Design Space, in Newcastle West.

While several pieces attract the eye in the living space, it’s hard to see past the purple Stokke recliner chair. This Scandinavian piece is in a class of its own and acts as an elegant centrepiece for the room.

Another eye catcher is the fish tank (see Get the Look) with its racing red frame, which Maura notes doubles as a light by night! From the very trendy BiOrb range, Maura purchased it locally from Petmania in Tralee.

While there are many other noteworthy pieces in the room, the Eileen Gray classic glass and chrome side table is well deserving of an honourable mention. Maura confesses to having had this piece for a long time and being a fan of the iconic Irish designer.

In keeping with the owner’s penchant for bright, light finishes, large cream marble tiles run seamlessly throughout the ground floor. Also on the ground floor level is a home gym and children’s play room, two bathrooms and two guest bedrooms.

One of the guest bedrooms has a feature wall covered with a luxurious silver gray wallpaper with a raised motif with a tactile chenille type finish, that Maura admits, she

just couldn’t resist! Also in this room is a ‘50s style sunburst mirror and cool glass and chrome side tables. All told, it’s a sophisticated guest bedroom.

The lobby area has a pair of velvet upholstered, comfortable chairs with a striped pattern in turquoise, taupe, grape and lime. The view from this tranquil seated area extends over the garden to the rear of the house. Also in this quiet corner is a gentle but very interesting collection of

Japanese prints, which the owner bought while visiting Paris many years ago.

The corridor space between the two volumes is cleverly fitted with floor-to-ceiling storage units and there are two chic consoles set against the walls.

The stairs leading to the first floor has an almost industrial feel, but once again the architect was true to his brief to keep the house as light and airy as possible. The open

treads ensure plenty of light filters through and the cherry wood steps add warmth to the steel frame.

Upstairs, the flooring is wide plank maple and again the use of blonde wood reflects the light.

At first floor level, one complete wing of the house is dedicated to the master suite.

The door into the master suite leads into a generous lobby area, off which is an office, a capacious bedroom, a bathroom

and steam room, plus an array of stylish floor-to-ceiling builtin units that afford ample storage space.

The bedroom alone is the size of a small apartment. Wall to wall glazing capitalises on the southern aspect and perfectly frames the splendid view over the bay across to the mountains. When you wander out onto the balcony, you can also enjoy the views over the mature garden and tennis court.

The joinery throughout this house is precise and perfect and the joiner in question is a local man, John Earley, who was assisted by Aidan Hennebery. Maura admits she has an eye for detail when it comes to joinery and woodwork. “John’s work is faultless I am really pleased with his work throughout the house, it’s great to find such talent locally.”

Her love of craftsmanship can also be seen in the >>>

From the ground floor living quarters, the views of the lush, well-stocked garden are both relaxing and inspirational

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

GETTHELOOK

Some great ideas for you to use in your home and where to get them

1 Height of fashion: Make a necessity a feature in its own right with bold colours.

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2 A unique stairs gives personality to a home, as well as serving to link levels.

3 Take time to find a clock that adds character to your home

4 Who knows what goes on behind closed doors?

Glossy storage units can conceal a multitude.

5 Feel like a new blue?

This shower-side bathroom chair is ready for a contrasting fluffy white towel.

6 Golden moments: permanent garden furniture means any sunny moment can be grabbed for a cuppa and a read.

SOURCEBOOK Architects: John Phelan Architects, No 1 The Mews, Moyderwell, Tralee, T: 066- 7129704 .................................................................................................

Engineer: Warren Reidy, Castlegregory, T: 066-7139515 .................................................................................................

Builder: Tom Boyle, Ballybunion, T: 087 2342563 .................................................................................................

Electricians: Moriarty Electricians, Listowel, T: 068-21293 .................................................................................................

Joinery: John Earley, T: 087-2508287 .................................................................................................

Dining Room Table and Tulip Chairs:

>>> bespoke bookcase that occupies a significant amount of wall space in the master bedroom. This particular piece was designed and handmade by Goose Island Workshop, near Castlegregory.

Across the landing, in the second wing are two children’s bedrooms, decorated as you might expect children’s bedrooms to be, in a riot of ‘favourite’ colours with bold prints and lots of fun and character.

The owner of this house took on a big task when she set out to have this house designed and built. While she hired an architect to design the house, create the plans and to advise, she took on the project

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management of the building work herself.

She admits that at the time she didn’t fully understand what she was letting herself in for, and reflects that while she enjoyed the challenge, she wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone else and is relieved that she won’t have to do it again!

While the architectural merits of this modern family home are undeniable, the interior’s also a great credit to its owner.

This house really feels like someone’s home, it’s full of individualistic, considered pieces of furniture that are distinctive and personal. Best of all, most of the furniture and fittings were locally sourced.

PRACTICE PROFILE John Phelan Architects, Tralee believe in smart design. According to John Phelan, “in our work this means designing to use less, to collaborate with the landscape and design for sustainable life”.

“Bringing in natural views and landscapes into a building makes it a much more desirable, relaxing and comfortable place to live or work.”

He added, “Our design philosophy is

OBJEKT, Mills Falls, Southquay, Newcastle West, Co. Limerick. T: 06978223. Email: info@objekt.ie .................................................................................................

BiOrb Fish Tank: Petmania, Manor West Retail Park, Tralee, T: 066-7192213 .................................................................................................

Bookcase: Goose Island Workshop, Inchaloughra, Co Kerry, T: 066-7139896 .................................................................................................

Sunburst Mirror: Hal-Lou Furnishings, Tralee, T: 066-7121266. .................................................................................................

Console Tables: Lots Furnishings Co, Listowel Road, Tralee, T: 066-7127117, www.lotsworldwide.com.

strongly influenced by the creative use of natural light and space and the connection to the landscape.

“We incorporate sustainable design principles through passive solar, energy-efficient systems and earth friendly building materials.”

■ Contact details: John Phelan Architects, No 1 The Mews, Moyderwell, Tralee, Co. Kerry, Tel: 066 7129704 or visit: www.jpa.ie

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INTERIORS

INTERIORS

This week we take a look at ...

Office aid Carol O’Callaghan looks at how you can set up a mini office in your own home without too much distraction

WORK IT OUT

Get the look for your own home office

The Allegra desk integrates beautifully into a living room environment. Available in a variety of finishes (Boulevard Interiors €750).

The home worker with an eye for design might like to check out Red writing desk by Neil and Annabel McCarthy of Nest Design.

The glossy finish of this little beauty belies the skill and craftsmanship that have been invested in the piece, making it the embodiment of good design — attractive and practical. €4,400 from www.nest-design.com.

Storage with a difference When considering storage needs for your home office or study opt for items that can be deployed elsewhere when needed.

You can store papers and journals in this news stand (from Meadows & Byrne €22).

Below: Corner drawers will hold your staplers and other office bits and pieces (from www.littlewoodsireland.ie €59).

A funky step-ladder shelving unit will look great (from M&S €150).

Brighten up your office A desk with deep drawers and the clever building of shelving into one of the supports would suit a bedroom for the teenaged student (Malibu desk from Argos €64.99).

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HE idea of working from home can seem so seductive, removing the tension of office politics and a boss looking over your shoulder. It also means giving the sack to commuting in wind and rain, and making redundant the sweltering afternoons spent in west-facing offices next to walls made entirely of double glazing.

But before you get carried away this new way of working can be very isolated and requires discipline to resist the lure of morning television and phone calls from friends asking you to join them for coffee or a round of golf.

So ask yourself, can you really get your head down to work for several hours at a stretch without being easily distracted?

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If the answer’s yes, it’s absolutely essential to have a dedicated work area unless you live alone and can work from the kitchen table and never be disturbed. The ideal is a dedicated office, but space may not permit this, so you may have to allocate a corner of another room, and you’ll want to do this in a way that won’t take from the overall look of the space.

If you live in open-plan you won’t want to turn your living space into an office, so consider having an attractive console table which you can perch your laptop on during the day, and keep a selection of smart storage boxes for files, books and papers which can double up as side tables, or dedicate some shelves in your bookcases to your office files.

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Opt for a stylish desk if you intend having it in your main living area where it will stand out as a statement piece (Vertigo

by Roche Bobois from €4,150).

It may be you have a student in the house, and in an effort to make them apply nose to grindstone without the distraction of electronic games consoles and the television, a dedicated office or study may be a necessity, or at least allocating a portion of an infrequently used room where work or study can be done in peace.

A formal dining room lends itself well to this alternative use as it will already have a table and straight-backed chairs, but if it’s used at meal times then consider buying a buffet-style table or a console which will double up as a desk.

If there’s no option but to have the office in a living area or a study in the bedroom — the latter being more likely when dealing with the needs of students — then a discreet desk with built-in

storage will do the trick. Desks with a combination of drawers and shelving are neat and compact, and you can choose from the plain and simple to the ornate and distinguished, depending on your own personal style.

Also worth considering is the mini office system which addresses all your working and storage needs with integrated desk space and wall shelving above for easy access.

This sort of arrangement can slot into an unused corner, but choose something that works with your existing furniture so your new workstation doesn’t scream office at you every time it comes into view.

Next week we take a look at what’s hot in the collectors market right now and may be the antiques of the future.

A few well-chosen accessories can soften the appearance of a home office.

Light up with his giant lamp by Muno, €470 from O’Brien Office Systems, www.obos.ie.

A home office will require desk space, cupboards for files, and shelving. (Wentworth desk from Casey’s Furniture €649).

Fanfare clock by Klickity, €25 (www.klickity.ie).

The Desktidy, €30, from www.blackblum.com.

A discreet desk is perfect for studying or working from home part-time (PC desk from Casey’s Furniture €659).

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DIY

DIY

PUT LAUNDRY ROOMS TO GOOD WORK

DIYTIPS

Create an easy-to-make magnetic board for notices for the family WHAT YOU NEED: ■ A large picture frame, easily found second hand ■ A piece of sheet metal cut to fit the frame, making the edges safe ■ Strong decorative magnets. Try educational or toy shops for these.

Assign a different design to each child.

Kya deLongchamps sets out to stop your laundry from becoming an ugly, space-devouring nightmare

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ven a sleek contemporary home has its back stage chaos of human life to deal with. The river of laundry flowing across the house is just one of our many humdrum preoccupations, and, left disorganised, it can become an ugly, space devouring nightmare. Let’s put those utility areas and dedicated laundry rooms to good work.

lot to be said for a family engine room where you can cheerfully dump your dirty linen without ceremony. Hidden from view and open to domestic contempt, it’s critical to instigate good housekeeping habits immediately.

Generous sorting bins for coloureds and whites will encourage the family to pitch their clothes in the right direction, and a folding surface might even suggest they fish the load out too.

INTEGRATED UTILITY AREAS We love the Littlewoods white wicker If you have to have the laundry Lights/Darks linen bin at €47. machines in your kitchen (let’s face it, www.littlewoodireland.ie. the plumbing and venting is right Floor space allows for gadgets. The there), disguise in storage outstrips any Dri-Buddy from JML is a handy freeworries over mechanical noise. standing dryer that can take up to 10kg Contemporary washers and dryers of wet clothes right on their hangers boast excellent low decibels and low and uses a fraction of the power of a vibration with the odd moist slap and dryer. €69.59. www.jmldirect.com. breathy hum of a spin cycle. If you’re A laundry chute from upstairs, (a planning out the kitchen consider brilliant device of the hospitality closeting supplies and machines in a industry) can lead directly to generous stack in a tall, properly ventilated baskets to be chucked straight into the pantry cupboard, taking up as little as a washer. Given ventilation and single 500mm kitchen unit, using the plumbing, it makes equally good sense reverse of the door for hooks and to put the utility room upstairs where slender wire shelving. Tailor in enough most of the clothes and linen lurk. Two room to take your household cleaning machines are reasonably easy to products too. accommodate and, in a stack, nothing at In a galley or double galley, a pull all. Again it’s storage and backing up down ironing board set into a press in pungent loads that leads to disaster. the wall is less ankle bruising than Stacked machines place you upright wrestling with the full board every time for one stage of conducting washing you need chase a crease in the from one drum to the other. Large up husband’s boxers. B&Q offers a facing portholes are dreamy to set and 300X950mm model set behind a drawer load and can be emptied in one swoop of for €87.25. If you want to disguise a the arms. A wall-mounted clothes airer washing nook from visitors, follow or shelving can be set on brackets, Martha Stewart’s perky advice, adding a making good use of otherwise dead hiding blind that pulls down from the space. Try IKEA’s Grundtal at €29.99. ceiling and hooks to the floor when Old-style crank-up airers keep the items needed. Alternatively, with the out of your way if the ceiling height detergent under wraps, put that iconic allows. glittering chassis and mesmeric large porthole on full unapologetic display.

MULTI-TASKING UTILITY AREAS Whatever the space, being close to the More often than not, the utility area is back door will coax your environmental staged around a back door, and it forms conscience to take the washing out to part of a much larger brief as the the line when possible. If ventilating the gatekeeper of the house. Logically, a dryer through a wall is problematic, or laundry should be at the back door you have taken your utility room to an where heavy loads of washing can be unusual location, choose a condenser taken outside by the shortest route and machine with a water collector. the ventilation grille for the dryer shot through the wall.

STAND ALONE LAUNDRIES Try to make the space as ergonomic, Once you have had the run of a fully practical and downright pleasant as detailed utility room, you will wonder possible. Include a decorative theme how you ever stirred the pasta over an with a good flow into the adjoining acre of crumpled undergarments. If you rooms. A second very utilitarian sink is are lucky enough to have a selfa Godsend for hand-washing, cutting contained utility room or (angels please flowers and a thousand maddening sing out here) a properly ventilated rinsing tasks. basement, you can afford to make it as Rail mounted shelving is an ideal bleakly practical as you like. There is a addition where you can’t manage floor

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This EcoBubble machine from Samsung takes unashamed centre stage with its oversized attractive porthole and high performance.

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■ A small metal bucket or basket with a single handle to hang on a hook by the frame. A garden centre may have an ornamental type to suit.

■ Metal paint. Spray or tinned with a primer to match.

■ A wipe board and pen (optional) ■ Ribbon (optional)

Remove glass from the frame and measure up the back board.

Have a piece of sheet metal cut to size at your DIY supplier.

Clean the metal to remove oily residue Spray to colour. Metallics are fun or stencil a large first letter for family members in a contrasting acrylic paint to divide the board up.

Paint up and replace frame. Use small tacks if the backing board is not tight Hang the message board on flat gallery-style mounts screwed to the wall to prevent swinging.

Place the wipe board by the side of the main board for quick alerts, Secure the pen to the board with ribbon.

Place magnets for each person in the bucket/basket on a nice hook for an easy grab to pin up notices quickly.

■ Go further: Below each child’s area, pin a card or plastic folder (easily found at any stationers) for larger paperwork to be dropped off and picked up.

Q&A Elfa shelving with the addition of pretty trugs andfabric hanging baskets to bring the load to the washer. An afternoon’s work tames this rangy utility room and the whole lot can move with you. Howards Storage World. www.hsw.ie.

standing blind cupboards and can be constructed to use the wall space around the machines in a variety of depths to carry everything from neatly folded linens and towels to detergents. If you can handle a drill and a spirit level, system shelving of this kind is a satisfying rooky DIY odyssey.

Laundry baskets on the floor are inevitable for most families and, where you’re really pushed, washable draw string laundry bags set on strong hooks will both store and hide. Ventilated pull

forward clothes bins disguised in builtin presses can streamline a polite utility area, freeing up floor space. If you’re ripping out a kitchen, keep those carcasses and doors for use elsewhere.

They can be assembled into a neat terrace of cupboards to serve the utility room.

GO FURTHER Where laundry room meets mudroom, elect one area or length of wall for a rack for coats and a place to perch and

take off shoes and boots. A built in ‘hutch’ in timber, a sort of glorified bench enclosed by high shelving, side elements, integrated hanging, a shoe store and even a stately pediment is quaintly estate style.

A direct route to a shower room from the backdoor utility room is fantastic if you have keen, mud spattered sportsmen and women, who will be delighted to dump their kit, and get regentrified before facing the family. That extra loo is a firm favourite for urgent

filthy children careering in from the garden who ‘have to go!’ If you have a few hundred euro, follow the American trend for the dedicated wet corner dogshower in the utility room, basically a tiled waterproofed area with a floor drain, hand held shower and short surrounding screen to save spatter.

I must admit my greatest addition to my tiny utility room was a radio to stop me going completely barmy while ironing. Match this to a view and it becomes an empty-headed pleasure.

Do you have a DIY question you would like answered?

Send it to interiors@examiner.ie

Q: I’m worried about water charges and power charges coming next year. What would you recommend for a new under-counter washer for a larger family?

A. Samsung’s EcoBubble machine provides the same wash performance using cold water as standard machines with hot. Soap rich bubbles penetrate and dissolve faster into fabrics, a potential saving of 70% on energy used for heating water. Comes in a 7-12Kg machine, vast in an under the counter model. From €499.

Q. What is the most ‘intelligent’ washing machine on the market this year?

A. I think a machine that adds its own detergent has to be a winner! The Siemens i-Dos adds just the right amount of liquid required for each load automatically and to millilitre precision.

Fuzzy logic doesn’t come cheap, but these quality machines should last a decade or more. €1,149.99.

Q. When I line dry my clothes, especially towels and jeans, they turn to cardboard. Any tricks for softness?

A. As well as using a fabric softener to separate the fibres, try adding a half cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle to flush out the detergent. Finally, put them into the dryer for just 10 minutes, and then take straight out to the line on a windy day.

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WISH LIST Feel like flirting with some new additions for your interiors to brighten up September?

Esther McCarthy takes a look at what’s out there

Definitely don’t return to sender this picture-perfect Postcard cushion, available from Heatons for €10.

Chase away the blues with the Toronto chair set, €80 for two from M&S.

Revel in a relaxing bath with the Divine Calm products from the Wellbeing range at The Body Shop.

Get tickled pink and brighten up any room with the Soho chair from Next Interiors, €630.

This glorious 2-foot tall Chinese goddess is €55 at La Maison Chic, the interior design boutique on Abbeygate Street in Galway city opened this summer. It's got an impressive designer fabrics and wallpapers library including Colefax, Arte, Pierre Frey and Zoffany. www.lasmaisonchic.ie.

Light up your boudoir with this girlie Rose flower lamp, €39 from Next.

Have a hoot with this quirky Owl cushion, €8, available from Penneys.

Don’t forget the garden just because it’s September. Check out these modern planters from TK Maxx €19.99 each.

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Colourful stripes like this Larson armchair can lift a whole room €570 from M&S.

This chic Capri leather sofa comes in a range of colours and combinations. Available for €1,935 for leather (€1,515 for fabric) at Square Deal Interiors, Cork.

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IN THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK AUTUMN: September marks a transformation in the growth pattern of all plants. Through these changes we recognise autumn and how it is slipping through summer’s branches. We must therefore give ear to the beauty and fragility of aging.

Trees are taking off their lush green garments, and once more I notice the wheel of the year as it turns through the cycle of the seasons.

From mid-month the nights will be getting longer and, one must assume, colder, so there will be a danger of fungi of one kind or another appearing on all bedding plants. If dead flowers are left on the beds then these will act as centres of infection which will eventually move down to attack stems and leaves.

For this reason, remove all spent blooms and yes, do continue to feed if the plants are at all presentable.

Despite the lack of strong sunshine in many areas bedding schemes have been given a welcome boost and a little feeding now will keep the display going right into October.

Phostrogen or Miracle Grow applied via their special dispensers (or the watering can) will not take long but it will surely work wonders.

VERMIN: Rats are making their winter ‘runs’ this month and the base of neglected town and city garden hedges, are high on their list of options.

Try to keep the base of these clear of obstruction from grass, weeds and wind-blown rubbish.

On farms, look for regular rat runs between food and nest sites and for tracks in mud or dust. In homes and outbuildings, look for greasy smears down low for rats like to press their bodies against walls and timber as they move around.

In the open, be observant and look for signs of nests in earthen banks, under rock piles, discarded lengths of timber, dry rubbish, overgrown hedges and especially in compost heaps which are badly made, poorly maintained, and never turned.

To control rats or mice, you need to understand them. Rats

GARDENNOTES

■ Conna and District Flower and Garden Club will hold their Annual Horticultural Show in the Community Hall on Sunday, September 11. Doors open at 3pm.

■ Kinsale Flower and Garden Club presents Welcome Autumn by Una Fleming at their meeting on Thursday next in St Multose Hall at 8pm. New members and visitors welcome.

■ Bantry Flower and Garden club begin a new season on Monday next with a demonstration by Sheila Gilbert entitled Autumn Reflections in the Westlodge Hotel at 8pm. Visitors, old and new members welcome.

■ The next Farmers Market at Hosfords Enniskeane will be held tomorrow from noon to 5.30pm. The market will be held under cover if the weather is inclement.

Late bloomer hydrangea Annabel can look outrageously inappropriate whilst still holding all the glamour of a disappointing summer.

are nature’s greatest survivors and they can live where you and I would almost certainly perish!

Intelligent and adaptable, they can swim, climb walls, jump obstacles and smartly chew their way through concrete, plastic, and most forms of building material.

Extremely sociable, they live in colonies of up to several hundred, and because they need to drink every day, they always nest and live close to water.

Gardeners with pools and water features please take note.

Control vermin with the likes of Storm block bait which is available at all garden centres and farm supply outlets. Lay this bait as directed on the packet.

LATE BLOOMS: During September the most stunning autumn flowers arrive, confounding our expectation not alone in their arrival but in their bashful tints.

There is nothing timid or shy, however, about the arrival of the nerines and late agapanthus for both withstand strong winds and drenching spray better than most. Neither is there any reluctance in the tall, blueflowered willow gentian, nor in

AS with all vegetables the crucial period is the first few weeks that they are in the soil. This is the time that they can become most stressed if nutrients, space, light and water are not available to them.

Winter Vegetables Vegetables which have been planted in the summertime and are harvested throughout the winter include cabbages, leeks, carrots, parsnips, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, chard and spinach to name the main ones.

the cardinal red of penstemons, the purple and mauve of the cone flower (Echinacea purpurea) or the silken pink of the Kaffir lily.

Even the hydrangea Annabel (which is easily battered and bruised) can look outrageously inappropriate whilst still holding all the glamour of a disappointing summer.

It may harbour the ache of regret, but it survives none the less.

FOLIAGE: Eventually all our garden flowers will go to sleep, but leaves and good foliage will still hold sway.

Melianthus major is one of these. Its blue-green leaves (which look as if it has been edged and crimped with pinking shears) now come their best, and a dewy morning will spangle each tooth on each leaf with sparkling clear water droplet.

In any garden, Melianthus will add exoticism to a bed or provide impact standing alone in a (blue) pot, and even though it will be cut cruelly in prolonged frosty weather, it will always come back again from ground level.

Keen flower arrangers simply love this plant and who can blame them?

Brassicas The brassicas, such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts, just need to be kept weed free in the early weeks. Afterwards they

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

■ East Cork Flower Club will host Teresa Barry of Barry’s Nurseries, Killeagh on Monday next at 8pm in St John the Baptist National School Midleton.

■ Youghal Flower and Garden Club will host a Gala Demonstration with Sandra Finnegan on Tuesday, September 13, in the Walter Raleigh Hotel beginning at 8pm with a wine reception. Admission €12 — proceeds in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland. Tickets available from Patricia at 0861233742 or Carol at 02491811.

■ Fermoy Flower and Garden Club will host a floral demonstration with Theresa Collins entitled seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness in the Adair Hall on Tuesday next at 8pm. Visitors welcome.

■ Cobh Flower and Horticulture Club will resume their meetings at Cobh Community Centre on Monday next at 8pm. A floral talk and demonstration will be given by Tim and Margaret Mulchinock of Blackwater Floral accessories. Refreshments served, all welcome.

■ Cork Garden Club Ashton School resume their meetings on Thursday next at 8pm when Mary Sweetnam of Waterside Garden Centre will speak on autumn colour. This club boasts a good number of male members and more are invited to attend this first meeting (on a complimentary basis) with a view to joining.

■ Cork Flower Club will have a preparation night on Tuesday next for the flower festival in St Luke’s Church Douglas on September 24. Full details of the festival will appear here next week.

■ Griffin’s Slug Club Dripsey for children resumes next Saturday at 3pm. For gardeners, a free talk on garden design made simple will be given on Tuesday and Thursday next at noon. T: 021-7334286.

by Grace Maher

With leeks, carrots and parsnips they will survive well into the winter.

Harvest them as you require them as they tend to be frost hardy. Parsnips and carrots often taste better after a frost as it sweetens them up! However, if like last year there is a considerable amount of snow then it is better to dig them up and store them indoors.

grow quite tall and wide and are able to compete with weeds. Do watch out for caterpillars on brassicas and remove them if you see them. This is especially important in February and March.

Green leaves Kale, chard and spinach provide really useful green leaves throughout the autumn and winter.

Winter salad leaves such as winter purslane, vit and winter lettuces can almost provide a year round supply of salad. However, if you have sown winter varieties you will also notice a

ASK THE

by Charlie Wilkins

■ Blackrock Flower and Garden Club resume meetings for autumn and winter on Tuesday next at 7.30pm in the Ursuline Secondary School. A floral demonstration is planned and new members and visitors welcome.

ORGANIC VEGETABLE GARDEN

18

by Charlie Wilkins

INTERIORS

severe slow down in growth in December and January. However, with the first flush of heat in springtime winter salad leaves spurt into growth.

Sowing crops in winter In November you can prepare the ground to sow broad beans. These require a long growing season. Garlic can also be sown and will be ready to harvest earlier than spring sown garlic.

■ Next week we will be looking at preparing your garden for winter.

DESIGNER

Gerry Condon of Gerry Condon Design answers your questions.

Email: interiors@examiner.ie

Our two children have moved out, so we’re thinking of knocking the wall between their bedrooms to create one larger guest room — is it a messy job?

purpose-built ground floor bedroom and en-suite — so I think you should proceed with that anyway, ensuring it has lots of natural light and access to your garden.

In the meantime, think about installing a stair lift or wheelchair through-floor lift (see www.irishstairlifts.ie) and have your existing first-floor bathroom converted to suit your needs. Depending on the layout of your home, you could also convert your ground-floor living room into your new bedroom complete with ensuite and extend your kitchen/ dining area into a nice new lounge with access to the garden.

Q

A. It depends on the thickness and construction of the dividing wall — a 150mm thick stud partition should be relatively simple, but a solid wall of 300mm or more may be a supporting wall, so you’ll definitely need to get professional advice first. Once the wall is gone, the ceiling and walls should be completely replastered – not just the damaged area – to get a decent finish.

Depending on the size of the rooms, you might consider a large arched opening instead — it will be much easier to repair and give your guests a separate sleeping and living area. Or how about fitting full height fold-away doors between the rooms (giving the option of a single or double room)?

Q. For mobility reasons, I have a council grant to build a ground floor bedroom. As I’ll really miss my lovely upstairs front bedroom, however, are there any alternatives?

A. I can understand your reluctance to leave your upstairs bedroom. But in the long run, there are many benefits of a

Q. My shower is leaking through the hallway ceiling below — even though I installed a waterproofing system all around the unit and sealed the tiles.

Help!

Frameless Glass Systems Balustrades & Balconies

ADD STYLE & FINISH TO YOUR HOME

A. I’m afraid it’s time to call in a good plumber to get to the root of this problem. He’ll be able to tell you if the unit has to come out altogether — and if so, it’s hardly worth putting it back in.

My advice is to start investigating the wide range of new and exciting showers on the market — and invest in a power shower if possible.

Either way, you can’t afford to leave this problem unresolved as it will do untold damage to the fabric of your house, destroying the plaster ceiling and damaging electrics.

CUSTOM MADE GLASS WIND BREAKERS

WEB WATCH

Every week Esther N McCarthy spotlights interiors sites. If you have a favourite, email: interiors@examiner.ie

1

Spineless Classics

Have you a favourite book? A story that changed your life, or shaped the way you thought, or changed your perspective on something? Did you swoon at Wuthering Heights or get hooked on horses after devouring Black Beauty?

The creators of this site believe a favourite book can be a significant part of who you are — and they want to help you tell the world — or at least anyone who comes into your house — about it.

A straightforward, no nonsense and — pardon the pun — novel site that creates full text posters — a whole book on a single sheet.

It promises “A bold art print on which, up close, you can read the full and complete text of your favourite classic work, right from ‘It was the best of times’ to ‘A far, far greater thing’.”

■ Spinelessclassics.com

2

Pedlars

A colourful, lively site – “Stuff we love that you’ll love too” — it’s worth a click for the vintage tab alone. They have everything from the delightful to the doubtful — American children’s shoe lasts, anyone? — but it’s all entertaining. Charlie and Caroline’s blog is a good read too, they’re talking about heading off to Frankfurt in search of new products for the site. The prints and posters are cool as well. I really like the limited edition Lion print but at £175 it will remain caged on the internet rather than adorning my sitting room.

■ www.Pedlars.co.uk

MAXIMISE THE LIGHT, BY USING CLEAN LINES GIVING YOU UNINTERRUPTED VIEWS. CALL TO OUR SHOWROOM

CORK GLASS CENTRE NATIONWIDE SERVICE

Unit 3 | Kinsale Road Industrial Estate, | Kinsale Road | Cork

Tel: 021-4315036 Left: A bold art print on which, up close, you can read the full and complete text of your favourite classic work.

Email: info@corkglass.ie

Visit our site for other products

www.corkglass.ie

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

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IN THE GARDEN

IN THE GARDEN

Style to hook the birds

THREE WAYS TO...

Stop tomatoes tasting bitter

1 2 3

A little investment could turn your garden into a worthy habitat for birds and other wildlife, Kya deLongchamps reports

Grow them in growbags or big pots, large enough to minimise the chances of drying out and enabling the plants to find the nutrients they need.

Don’t overfeed them as this can make them taste bitter.

Avoid sitting them in over-heated greenhouses as exceptionally high temperatures can alter their flavour.

MAKE 2012 A BLOOMING GOOD YEAR We have 1000’s of spring flowering bulbs just waiting to be planted Huge selection for window boxes, tubs, beds, rockeries and naturalizing.

Talk to Sheila our Qualified Horticultural Advisor every Thursday 10am - 12.00 noon If you require some really good autumn-flowering perennials (such as Echinacea White Swan), or you are trying to source a rare specimen like Hot Papaya, then make sure you arrive early at the Fota seminar on September 24 because at least three specialist nurseries will be in attendance.

Ideal for tits to have some gymnastic feasting, Ceramic Fat Snax Feeder from B&Q, €4.75 for the Feeder and Snax pack €2.05.

O

ver the winter your plant-rich, well sheltered garden could prove a vital habitat for birds and other wildlife, so bring some life into your garden lifestyle with a few new practices and low cost investments.

FEATHERED HOSPITALITY Dedicated wild bird food takes into account the dietary needs of native and migratory birds visiting Ireland over winter and is widely available. You can even order to your door online everything you need to get your garden flocking. Variety in food will add MICRO-ENVIRONMENTS variety to the birds you can cater to.

In the suburbs, and even in rural areas Black sunflower seeds and millet are top where fields are stripped of traditional favourites, with peanuts and fat balls a copses and field margins, you can play stage-set for charming your part in coaxing back the dwindling feathery fights among numbers of song birds and vulnerable tits and finches. Bread animals vying with development and is not recommended commercially aggressive farm practices. food for birds and once Get started with a completely free wet will freeze brick project that only takes a little sacrifice hard in cold in that sylvan third of an acre. In one conditions. A bird table quiet corner of the garden let the grass doesn’t even require a grow, and throw in cuttings from trees garden. Raising the and shrubs to degrade naturally. This table lifts the birds out of the immediate instantly creates a small environment danger of stalking predators, and makes for insects, slugs and snails to thrive the table easier to stock and keep clean and with that rich food source and of disease. A roof and the platform itself hiding, birds and even hedgehogs will provide extra places to hang as well as follow. A paving slab or two provides a scatter food. Birdwatch Ireland ‘smashing’ place for blackbirds and www.birdwatchireland.ie offers a thrushes to open shells. Lift the blades simple plan for an ideal hanging feeder for that last cut of the winter, leaving on their website using plywood, hooks the grass a little longer. and light metal chain. Enclosed hanging

Sparrows, once abundant in Ireland, now struggle in numbers in many rural areas. A bird bath is vital to keeping their feathers to insulating perfection.

feeders, are rodent resistant, but rats and mice remain superb athletes.

Suspended hangers from a hook on a balcony, adhered to window glass, or stage around the trees where you can enjoy a multi-level show.

INTRODUCE A ROOST If you put in nesting boxes in the spring, choose a box design to suit the species, and don’t attempt to ‘feed’ any nesting birds by pushing anything through the access. Prices vary from €15-€30 per box, depending on their detailing. Camera boxes with everything you need to see the action start at €129 from Bird Watch Ireland. If you are interested in homing bats in your garden and have a suitable tree or building, there is an excellent PDF to download covering the subject and a construction project for a box at Bat Conservations Ireland. www.batconservationireland.com.

Ensure to vouch for tanalised timber and galvanised screws for longevity. A small wooden bat model from Chic Hens

A paving slab or two provides a ‘smashing’ place for blackbirds

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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

is just €18.75. www.chic-hens.ie. Water is vital and pooled water can be scarce over winter. Birds must keep in good condition to insulate their fragile bodies, re-applying oil from their preen glands. Any shallow dish-shaped container with sloping sides and a textured surface will do. An unwanted dustbin lid with its shallow profile makes an excellent slosh spot. A shallow fall to the edge of the pond will invite hedgehogs, badgers and foxes to drink without the danger of drowning.

SPRING PLANTING NOTES Diverse planting will encourage different insect and animal life with shelter, berries and perching places. If you’re doing some planting in these useful dormant winter months, top on the list from Birdwatch Ireland are: ■ Cotoneaster.

■ Pyracantha (red berried varieties).

■ Ivies.

■ Honeysuckle- evergreen and semievergreen.

■ Holly.

■ Mountain Ash. ■ Hawthorn.

■ Crab apples.

Enjoy a FREE Cup of Coffee in our Clay Pot Café during talks

Open 7 Days at Carrigrohane Road, Cork Any enquiries please call 021 4933433

O’Neill’s secret Clondeglass garden well worth exploring Gardener’s walled enclosure will be the centre for seminar, writes Charlie Wilkins

T

HE bright days of autumn are a fine time to walk through a wood or beneath an avenue of stately trees, but I’m sure a visit to Clondeglass, the secret garden of Dermot O’Neill in Co Laois, would be far nicer.

I watched his ornamental exploits develop on TV last year and marvelled at not alone his purposefulness but the way he overcame the turmoil of his human suffering.

Determination is surely his middle name. His pleasure, of course, is in growing, and where better to do this than in a walled garden?

Dermot made Clondeglass into a place of repose and intangible consolation where the annoyances of the world outside (and his health) were cooled of their sting.

When tending and

planting during each episode he got down on the earth time and time again rummaging among leaves and petals to explain how the work should be undertaken.

He showed us through the medium of moving pictures how to become alert to the nuances of colour and scent, movement and texture.

Through this programme I, and many more countrywide, have become circumspect of wild tulips, scented daffodils, blue-coloured anemones and exotic hellebores, all of which exactly suit the low, faltering light that comes at the start of each year.

So for all those who watched and enjoyed Dermot’s Secret Garden I have good news.

On Saturday, September 24, at Fota House in Carrigtwohill Co Cork, Ireland’s best-

loved gardening expert Dermot O’Neill will host a one-day seminar entitled Dermot’s Secret Garden.

He presents magically and through his enthusiasm and passion charms audiences everywhere he appears.

Dermot will be joined by well-known Cork gardening expert Brian Cross, whose famous gardens at Lake-mount, Glanmire are open by appointment to the public throughout the year.

During the morning session, a short presentation will be given

by Bill Wigham of Gee-Up soil additive, a complimentary bag of which will be given to each visitor at the conclusion of the seminar.

Both Dermot and Brian will co-host a module entitled Plant Combinations for

Autumn Colour.

After lunch, which is optional, a question and answer session will take place with both speakers.

Following this, they will bring participants on a tour of the newly restored greenhouse within the extensive Fota Arboretum.

Alternatively, a complimentary guided walk through the gardens will be conducted by Fota head gardener David O’Regan.

A number of rare plant specialists will attend the seminar, including Bill Chase of Deelish Garden Centre, Skibbereen, Gerry Harford of the Potting Shed, Wexford, and Oliver Schurmann of Mount Venus Nursery.

Tickets for this event cost €50 (lunch €10 extra) and as places are strictly limited due to seating capacity, booking at 0214815543 is essential.

SEPTEMBER SALE (1st-15th September) WAS €899

10 ONLY €599

7HP Kohler Drive Power 7

p

15HP 38” 15hp 38” Outfront

outfront

WAS €3699

2 ONLY €2699

UP TO 33% OFF WAS €2,419

3 ONLY €1999

30”Hydro Hydro 30” 40cc, 15” 40cc 15” WAS €479

5 ONLY €399

Carrigrohane Road, Cork 021 4933420 Cork Road, Bandon 023 8844450

www.atkins.ie

for full listing of models on sale

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

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ANTIQUES & FINE ART

ADVERTISING

Autumn auction season starts soon Japanese and Chinese collectables to woo buyers at Hegarty sale, Des O’Sullivan reports

T

he autumn Irish auction season gets underway in force over the coming weeks. After a relatively quiet August, things kick off again in September. Collectors

should be out in force at sales in Cork and Dublin next week. The Bandon sale at Hegarty’s tomorrow features some unusual Japanese and Chinese collectables from the estate of the late

Georgette Ellison. In Dublin, James Adam will auction the Jill Cox collection next Wednesday. The late Mrs Cox was proprietor of the Beaufield Mews in Stillorgan and the sale is

strong in collectable Irish silver and glass. Her art collection will come under the hammer in the evening sale at 6pm.

There are some highly collectable pieces. There will be a house contents

auction by de Veres in Monkstown, Co Dublin in September 19 and O’Donovan and Associates will hold a 600 lot sale at North Quay in Newcastlewest on September 10.

Clockwise from left: The Decision by Dan O’Neill (1920-1974) at Adams in Dublin next Wednesday, estimated at €25,000-€35,000. A Cork silver sugar bowl made c1780 by Carden Terry from the Jill Cox Collection sale also at Adams. A satsuma onion-shaped vase at the Hegarty sale in Bandon tomorrow, estimated at €400-€600. La Clownesse assise by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at Christie's sale of prints in London on September 21, estimated at £180,000-220,000.

Carriage is feature lot

A

horse carriage in excellent condition is a feature lot at the house clearance sale at Sallymount Estate, Fore, Co Westmeath, at 2.30pm tomorrow.

Matthews Auctioneers of Oldcastle will conduct a sale which features a Regency four door bookcase, an 18th century Gainsborough chair, a 19th century French commode, a set of eight Irish Queen Anne chairs, a pair of large Oriental

This 19th century French commode is at the Matthews Auctioneers sale at Sallymount House, Fore, Co Westmeath tomorrow.

vases and an inlaid occasional table.

An antique dining table

O’Donovan & Associates Newcastlewest House Clearance, Antique & Art

Over 600 lots. Saturday, Sept 10th at 11am Viewing daily week prior to sale 10am – 5.30pm

Tel 069 62713 or 087 9977340 – www.odonovan.ie –

22

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 03.09.2011

with an accompanying set of 10 chairs also features in the sale.

There are some mounted African game heads, antique Hardy fishing rods, a Victorian marble-topped gilded console table and mirror, light fittings, rugs, antique tin toys and an American Eagle gold coin among over 400 lots.

Estimates range from under €100 to over €30,000.

There is viewing on the premises today and tomorrow from 11am.

DIARY GALLERY DISPLAY The National Gallery of Ireland is marking Archive Awareness Month this month with a special display of material from the Yeats archive and the Centre for the Study of Irish Art. Some of the gallery’s finest works are on view as part of a special presentation entitled Masterpieces from the Collection. ...............................................................

ANTIQUE SALE There will be a sale of antiques, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles at the Ashgrove Auction Rooms, Ballybrittas, Co Laois next Tuesday at 4.30pm. ...............................................................

DUBLIN AUCTION In Dublin de Veres will hold a house contents auction at Westbury, Willowbank, Monkstown, on September 19. ...............................................................

HOUSE SALE In England the largest house sale of the year takes place in West Sussex from September 13-15. Christie’s will conduct a three-day sale of over 1,000 lots at Cowdray Park. On offer is property from the home of Lord Cowdray and from Dunecht, the Scottish home of Lord Cowdray’s brother, the Hon Charles Pearson.

Estimates range from £100 to over £250,000.

Weetman Dickinson Pearson (1856-1927), 1st Viscount Cowdray, developed his family firm, S Pearson and Son Ltd, from a small company in Bradford into one of the most successful business empires of the 20th century. ...............................................................

AUCTION ROOMS The next sale at Limerick Auction Rooms takes place on September 11 at 2.30pm. ...............................................................

CRAWFORD GALLERY Fledglings is the title of an exhibition by recent graduates of the Crawford at the Lavit Gallery from September 6 — 17. It features work by Lucy Buckley, Tom Dalton, Helen Doherty, June Fairhead, Joe Healy, Margaret Horgan, Laura Mangan, Frank McGrath, Jill Neill, Carmen Nesdale, Tina O’Sullivan, Svetlana Shuks and Sabine Weissbach.

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