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Property 07.01.2012
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& Interiors
Tall Timbers
Photo by Denis Scannell
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Innishannon woodland house for sale is richly timbered, inside and out PLUS • TRADING UP • STYLISH HOMES • GET THE LOOK • ANTIQUES • STEP BY STEP DIY
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TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:05/01/2012Time:13:16:54Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:2
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PROPERTY
HOUSE WEEK OF THE
Energy efficient in Beaumont
Tommy Barker reports
Two houses are on offer in the same part of the mature Cork suburb, writes Tommy Barker
Clockwise from above: The house today; an aerial view of the site; the rear of the house pictured in the 1900s; a stone round tower lodge on the site; a view from the house.
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HOUSE to put the romance back into a It hit the market just in the run up to Christmas, property overhaul is set to make early New and within a week was heading to 1,500 online views Year waves — if it can be bought for anything while actual viewings of the physical property are near its tempting guide. only starting now. In a bit of a sorry state right now is Wood House, on Vandals have hit the place in the last few years, Cork’s Rochestown Road, a Victorian home that has though, smashing the window panes and letting the rapidly fallen on hard times, but will rise again. weather and wet in. Its advantages and strong selling points massively Yet, there’s everything you’d still hope for in this outweigh any drawbacks: it has 5,000sq ft of space on quite long and slender house to get it back on track, about seven acres, with Cork including a number of harbour views from every rooms with double Location: Rochestown, Cork part of a hill-slope site less aspect, with windows Price: €300,000 than 1km from Rochestown placed for the long village towards Passage. stretch of river/harbour Size: 458 sq m (5,000 sq ft) It’s private, secure and has views (to the north) and Bedrooms: 5 a long farm-like laurel-lined back to south for light, approach avenue, marked at and on east and west BER rating: N/A its start by the remains of a gables as a bonus. Broadband: Yes Gothic-style fully round It has at least three building: this is house No 2, decent reception rooms, Best feature: Huge scope, small money one’s very unusual with and is still a manageable renovation/extension project. an internal shuttered And, the really good news is the asking price: just window linking it to the house’s centrepiece — the €300,000 is quoted by auctioneer Sam Kingston of long, sunny rear hall and pitch pine staircase. Casey and Kingston, who says that while it may in the Overhead are five bedrooms, bathroom, WC, etc, with end get active bidding above that low-seeming launch a second service steps at the eastern end. This end is level, if that’s all that it gets, it will go for that. where you can find the old kitchen (complete with old At one time, in the noughties, this sold for circa €1.5 Aga) pantry and utilities. The rooms are generally million, and was bought as a renovation/investment airy and high ceilinged. project, but subsequent attempts to sell it for even The days of willfully knocking and replacing old more never took off. places needing work like Wood House are probably Now, Victorian Wood House is there for the taking, over — there’s a good floor plan here to work with. A appealing to a wide range of buyers — from hopeless new owner wanting to restore it to proper comfort will romantics to hard-pressed but hard-nosed investors want to re-roof as a first step, renew/replace windows, (under Budget 2012, you could renovate and sell on fully weather-proof it and allow it dry out slowly, then within seven years, free of capital gains tax). strip back, assess, repair and conserve/upgrade.
CONTENTS 4
TRADING UP Kerry coast calling: a Glenbeigh home for €175,000 has stone inside and out.
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OVERSEAS We’re not alone: property markets worldwide are stagnant.
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COVER STORY Shipool Lodge is a woodland hideaway, close to a city and airport.
10 INTERIORS We take a look at the latest colour trends for a new look for 2012.
14 18 20 22 23
It has finery, though, a formal steps entrance to its ornate porch with ornamental fascias just about hanging on, as well as outbuildings now almost lost in Christmas wrapping-like overgrowth. But, nothing a slashhook won’t reveal. The house has three slender bays to the front, rendered over red-brick, with two rear bay projections, and our early 1900s photo here shows a sun-room almost the full-width of Wood House, something that surely will be re-instated. There’s the bones of an old orchard seen behind, and trees around include oak, ash, beech, rhododendron, elm, eucalyptus, and a host more lost in briars, and good grazing in the several large paddocks. VERDICT: Buying it will be half the battle, but what a prize.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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NEW-BUILD, and an as-good as new build, are on offer to home seekers for the New Year at Lissadell, in Cork city’s mature Beaumont suburb. Building firm MOS, who usually do commercial projects and renovation work on older buildings, were behind the purchase of a tired semi-d in Upper Beaumont Drive a few years ago. They re-did the house from top to bottom, addressing all issues of its age, and brought it up to modern day comforts and standards, along with a B2 BER rating. Then, they added another house onto it side gable wall, building a second home with an even better B1
energy rating on this corner site. Now, they’ve both up for sale, each priced around €330,000, and each coming with compensating assets. The larger, at 1,770 sq ft, is the original four-bed semi-d at 31 Upper Beaumont Drive, but now it is effectively mid-terraced as a result of being built onto. Yet, it has independent retained lane access to the south-facing back garden, so it’s easy to get bikes, fuel and more around to the rear—- where there’s a large new added on single and part twostorey extension, effectively your contemporary open plan kitchen/ living/dining room.
PROPERTY Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:
Its accommodation includes a front 15’ by 11’ sitting room with gas fireplace, that big 24’ by 21’ living/ kitchen/diner behind. In between this house’s front and back living spaces is a multi-use (but windowless) room, suitable as a study, possible play room, or very large store/utility, although there’s a second utility elsewhere off the kitchen. There’s also a guest WC, and upstairs are four bedrooms, two of them sharing an en suite, plus main family bathroom, and apart from the gas central heating, there are solar panels for water heating. With a similar level of finish, the house next door, called Lissadell, is
Quality home in excellent condition The drop in price for this quality may suit those who have waited. Tommy Barker reports
Beaumont, Cork €330,000 1,770/1,550 sq ft 4 B2/B1 Yes, with CAT 5 cabling Energy efficiency
marginally smaller, at 1,550 sq ft, but is still a four-bed, with one en suite, and main bathroom, and has a big open hall, with large, wheelchair friendly guest WC — but this house has no utility room. It has off-street parking in front, with a slender side garden and small back garden, facing south. www.mos.ie has further sales details and images. VERDICT: Both houses will be very energy efficient (accessible attics have 300mm of insulation). easy to heat and basking in hot water from the sun, in a settled suburb with a bus stop by the door, and a public park close by.
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:
Rochestown, Cork €525,000 275 sq m (3,000 sq ft) 6 Pending Yes Size and location
The house in 2008.
DIY ASK THE DESIGNER GARDENING ANTIQUES CLASSIFIEDS
PROPERTY EDITOR Tommy Barker, 021 4802221 property@examiner.ie INTERIORS EDITORIAL Sue O’Connor, 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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BIG house from top to bottom — that’s price-reduced 7 Abbottswood, a six-bed family home built in the last decade in Cork’s Rochestown. Estate agent Jeremy Murphy now guides this three-storey brick-faced home at €525,000, showing a big reduction from the boom period when these big homes were in the €1 millionplus price league, and showing the sort of 50% drop from peak that this week’s depressing Myhome, Daft and Sherry
FitzGerald surveys indicated. Now, for traders up who can get their hands on finance, or who’ve sat and waited for the drops to date, the half a million euro mark could see them make the leap to the sort of comfortable house they’d never have to leave, until maybe trading-down time wheels around in a decade or two, when the property world might be a better place. No 7’s a quality home, with Kahrs wood flooring through much of its ground level, in rooms like the hall,
front formal sitting room, with a feature fireplace, in the dining room, and the play room, while the kitchen/ breakfast room floor is tiled, with its pale maple units in a U-shape. There’s also a tiled utility and guest WC. The first floor houses four bedrooms, most with varnished wood floors, the master bedroom is en suite, and the main family bathroom has an ovalshaped bath up on legs. Go up another floor, and the top level is home to two bedrooms plus a shower room, so
making for four bathrooms in all over its three levels. Overall condition is excellent, with some nice decor touches, notes Mr Murphy. VERDICT: There’s a touch of North American family homes to the exterior design, even if there isn’t quite the “great open spaces” followed through in the inside. Lots of rooms, and lots of space, though.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:05/01/2012Time:13:16:54Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:2
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V1
PROPERTY
HOUSE WEEK OF THE
Energy efficient in Beaumont
Tommy Barker reports
Two houses are on offer in the same part of the mature Cork suburb, writes Tommy Barker
Clockwise from above: The house today; an aerial view of the site; the rear of the house pictured in the 1900s; a stone round tower lodge on the site; a view from the house.
A
HOUSE to put the romance back into a It hit the market just in the run up to Christmas, property overhaul is set to make early New and within a week was heading to 1,500 online views Year waves — if it can be bought for anything while actual viewings of the physical property are near its tempting guide. only starting now. In a bit of a sorry state right now is Wood House, on Vandals have hit the place in the last few years, Cork’s Rochestown Road, a Victorian home that has though, smashing the window panes and letting the rapidly fallen on hard times, but will rise again. weather and wet in. Its advantages and strong selling points massively Yet, there’s everything you’d still hope for in this outweigh any drawbacks: it has 5,000sq ft of space on quite long and slender house to get it back on track, about seven acres, with Cork including a number of harbour views from every rooms with double Location: Rochestown, Cork part of a hill-slope site less aspect, with windows Price: €300,000 than 1km from Rochestown placed for the long village towards Passage. stretch of river/harbour Size: 458 sq m (5,000 sq ft) It’s private, secure and has views (to the north) and Bedrooms: 5 a long farm-like laurel-lined back to south for light, approach avenue, marked at and on east and west BER rating: N/A its start by the remains of a gables as a bonus. Broadband: Yes Gothic-style fully round It has at least three building: this is house No 2, decent reception rooms, Best feature: Huge scope, small money one’s very unusual with and is still a manageable renovation/extension project. an internal shuttered And, the really good news is the asking price: just window linking it to the house’s centrepiece — the €300,000 is quoted by auctioneer Sam Kingston of long, sunny rear hall and pitch pine staircase. Casey and Kingston, who says that while it may in the Overhead are five bedrooms, bathroom, WC, etc, with end get active bidding above that low-seeming launch a second service steps at the eastern end. This end is level, if that’s all that it gets, it will go for that. where you can find the old kitchen (complete with old At one time, in the noughties, this sold for circa €1.5 Aga) pantry and utilities. The rooms are generally million, and was bought as a renovation/investment airy and high ceilinged. project, but subsequent attempts to sell it for even The days of willfully knocking and replacing old more never took off. places needing work like Wood House are probably Now, Victorian Wood House is there for the taking, over — there’s a good floor plan here to work with. A appealing to a wide range of buyers — from hopeless new owner wanting to restore it to proper comfort will romantics to hard-pressed but hard-nosed investors want to re-roof as a first step, renew/replace windows, (under Budget 2012, you could renovate and sell on fully weather-proof it and allow it dry out slowly, then within seven years, free of capital gains tax). strip back, assess, repair and conserve/upgrade.
CONTENTS 4
TRADING UP Kerry coast calling: a Glenbeigh home for €175,000 has stone inside and out.
5
OVERSEAS We’re not alone: property markets worldwide are stagnant.
6
COVER STORY Shipool Lodge is a woodland hideaway, close to a city and airport.
10 INTERIORS We take a look at the latest colour trends for a new look for 2012.
14 18 20 22 23
It has finery, though, a formal steps entrance to its ornate porch with ornamental fascias just about hanging on, as well as outbuildings now almost lost in Christmas wrapping-like overgrowth. But, nothing a slashhook won’t reveal. The house has three slender bays to the front, rendered over red-brick, with two rear bay projections, and our early 1900s photo here shows a sun-room almost the full-width of Wood House, something that surely will be re-instated. There’s the bones of an old orchard seen behind, and trees around include oak, ash, beech, rhododendron, elm, eucalyptus, and a host more lost in briars, and good grazing in the several large paddocks. VERDICT: Buying it will be half the battle, but what a prize.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
A
NEW-BUILD, and an as-good as new build, are on offer to home seekers for the New Year at Lissadell, in Cork city’s mature Beaumont suburb. Building firm MOS, who usually do commercial projects and renovation work on older buildings, were behind the purchase of a tired semi-d in Upper Beaumont Drive a few years ago. They re-did the house from top to bottom, addressing all issues of its age, and brought it up to modern day comforts and standards, along with a B2 BER rating. Then, they added another house onto it side gable wall, building a second home with an even better B1
energy rating on this corner site. Now, they’ve both up for sale, each priced around €330,000, and each coming with compensating assets. The larger, at 1,770 sq ft, is the original four-bed semi-d at 31 Upper Beaumont Drive, but now it is effectively mid-terraced as a result of being built onto. Yet, it has independent retained lane access to the south-facing back garden, so it’s easy to get bikes, fuel and more around to the rear—- where there’s a large new added on single and part twostorey extension, effectively your contemporary open plan kitchen/ living/dining room.
PROPERTY Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:
Its accommodation includes a front 15’ by 11’ sitting room with gas fireplace, that big 24’ by 21’ living/ kitchen/diner behind. In between this house’s front and back living spaces is a multi-use (but windowless) room, suitable as a study, possible play room, or very large store/utility, although there’s a second utility elsewhere off the kitchen. There’s also a guest WC, and upstairs are four bedrooms, two of them sharing an en suite, plus main family bathroom, and apart from the gas central heating, there are solar panels for water heating. With a similar level of finish, the house next door, called Lissadell, is
Quality home in excellent condition The drop in price for this quality may suit those who have waited. Tommy Barker reports
Beaumont, Cork €330,000 1,770/1,550 sq ft 4 B2/B1 Yes, with CAT 5 cabling Energy efficiency
marginally smaller, at 1,550 sq ft, but is still a four-bed, with one en suite, and main bathroom, and has a big open hall, with large, wheelchair friendly guest WC — but this house has no utility room. It has off-street parking in front, with a slender side garden and small back garden, facing south. www.mos.ie has further sales details and images. VERDICT: Both houses will be very energy efficient (accessible attics have 300mm of insulation). easy to heat and basking in hot water from the sun, in a settled suburb with a bus stop by the door, and a public park close by.
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:
Rochestown, Cork €525,000 275 sq m (3,000 sq ft) 6 Pending Yes Size and location
The house in 2008.
DIY ASK THE DESIGNER GARDENING ANTIQUES CLASSIFIEDS
PROPERTY EDITOR Tommy Barker, 021 4802221 property@examiner.ie INTERIORS EDITORIAL Sue O’Connor, 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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BIG house from top to bottom — that’s price-reduced 7 Abbottswood, a six-bed family home built in the last decade in Cork’s Rochestown. Estate agent Jeremy Murphy now guides this three-storey brick-faced home at €525,000, showing a big reduction from the boom period when these big homes were in the €1 millionplus price league, and showing the sort of 50% drop from peak that this week’s depressing Myhome, Daft and Sherry
FitzGerald surveys indicated. Now, for traders up who can get their hands on finance, or who’ve sat and waited for the drops to date, the half a million euro mark could see them make the leap to the sort of comfortable house they’d never have to leave, until maybe trading-down time wheels around in a decade or two, when the property world might be a better place. No 7’s a quality home, with Kahrs wood flooring through much of its ground level, in rooms like the hall,
front formal sitting room, with a feature fireplace, in the dining room, and the play room, while the kitchen/ breakfast room floor is tiled, with its pale maple units in a U-shape. There’s also a tiled utility and guest WC. The first floor houses four bedrooms, most with varnished wood floors, the master bedroom is en suite, and the main family bathroom has an ovalshaped bath up on legs. Go up another floor, and the top level is home to two bedrooms plus a shower room, so
making for four bathrooms in all over its three levels. Overall condition is excellent, with some nice decor touches, notes Mr Murphy. VERDICT: There’s a touch of North American family homes to the exterior design, even if there isn’t quite the “great open spaces” followed through in the inside. Lots of rooms, and lots of space, though.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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PROPERTY
TRADING UP
XP1 - V1
Counting the cost
We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country
PROPERTY FEATURE
The slump in world markets continues to affect Irish people who splashed out in the boom, writes Diarmaid Condon
L SKIBBEREEN, CORK €240,000 Sq m: 118 (1,290 sq ft) BER rating: C3
Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes
GREEN fingered owners clearly are behind the joys of this Cooranuller bungalow in west Cork, six miles from both Skibbereen and Ballydehob, by Aughadown. The three-bed, single-storey home is on three-quarters of an acre that’s been landscaped and planted, with seating areas and a rockery in the garden to enjoy the planting, country views and bird-life from. It came to market just before Christmas with Maeve McCarthy of Charles P McCarthy auctioneers in Skib, who seeks offers around €240,000 for the home, ideal for traders down or up, and especially those who relish the pleasures of west Cork countryside, and a gentle climate to foster garden growth. The coast isn’t too far away either, she adds. While quiet, the area isn’t remote, and is fairly well serviced for those with a car to hand. The property has its own graveled drive, plus attached 230 sq ft garage, as well as garden shed. Internally, rooms include a 15’ by 13’ sitting room, kitchen, dining room, utility room and main bathroom, with three bedrooms, one of which has a shower room en suite. VERDICT: A lovely bungalow, with even better gardens, for those who want to spend time out in their own slice of the great outdoors.
GLENBEIGH, CO KERRY €175,000 Sq m: 139 (1,550 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes
THERE’S a great opportunity here for the Dublin diaspora to finally buy that home near the sea. What with settlement packages flying around like snuff at a wake this month, and a tsunami of civil servants retiring early in February, this house is perfect for the Young Age Pensioners. Located on the outskirts of Glenbeigh village in one of the loveliest parts of west Kerry, this is a new build home but one with lots of character. And according to selling agent Sarah O’Keeffe, even though the house hasn’t been used for a while, it was warm and dry when she went to measure up for sale. Standing on a half acre site (again, she says the site is unruly, but would respond to a good strim), there’s huge potential and the property has those allimportant sea views. The interior is open plan, with lots of exposed beams and sheeted panelling, but it’s not de trop, in fact, the interior only needs a little tweaking to become the perfect hideaway. VERDICT: Built in red sandstone, with stone wall interiors and finished to a high standard, this house could be scooped up at a handy price, with just a little negotiation. And the vendor is willing to include the furniture too. The site is fully enclosed and is minutes from shops and services.
SKEHARD ROAD, CORK €250,000 Sq m: 100 (1,100 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
VERDICT: Buyers who don’t need four bedrooms in a 1,100 sq ft home could consider making one a dressing room, study/home office or the like.
No 64 Castlemeadows must be one of the larger family homes in the peninsula end of Cork’s Skehard Road. Thanks to a two-storey side and rear extension, it fits in about 1,700 sq ft of space in all, with a good spread on both levels: one of the four bedrooms is en suite, there’s a first floor study as well, plus accessible part-floored attic space. Home to the house proud, it has got a good mix of living space and bedrooms, as well as a very usable back garden with lots of patio paving, with green areas outside it cul de sac setting. And, the location near the Ringmahon Road, close to where the Mahon peninsula has that great amenity to
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
SET in a scheme of detached bungalows is Jalna, a handy-sized home with up to four bedrooms fitted into its 1,100 sq ft, all on the one level. Jalna is No 27 Oakdene, off the Skehard Road by the CSO offices, and so has easy access (traffic peak times permitting) to the south ring road, to Mahon Point, to the employment base at City Gate, as well as the gentler attractions of the River Lee by the Marina a short distance away. Jalna is for sale with Paul O’Shea of FML Properties, carrying a €250,000 price tag, and he says it has been decorated and kept to a high standard, with a low maintenance rear garden with lots of gravel and paving. The walled-in back garden includes a shed and dog kennel. Rooms include a 16’ by 10’ living room to the front, overlooking a green area, a kitchen/dining room with breakfast bar divide and patio doors, main bathroom and four bedrooms, all fairly much on the compact side.
SKEHARD ROAD, CORK €265,000
KINSALE, CORK €295,000 Sq m: 232 (2,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
A BIT old fashioned in bungalow design stakes, but sizeable and with scope nonetheless, is the four-bed 2,500 sq ft bungalow called Friars Gate. Located on a quarter acre site on the Innishannon side of Kinsale town with elevated views, selling agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald says its only “a hop, skip and a jump from the town centre”. It’s old school in that it’s a genuine bungalow, with all its space on the one level, so maybe going the dormer extension route (subject to planning) could open possibilities (and more views) for new owners who will probably be looking at further spending and modernising in any case. High up on its sloping site, right now it has a single 16’ by 12’ living room, and larger, decent and bright 26’ by 13’ kitchen/dining room to the left hand side, with utility behind, and has its four bedrooms and sole bathroom off towards the right and the rear. On the far right, is a split-level garage, primed for home office or den use. VERDICT: Lots to work with here, in a good town location, and the house will respond well to upgrades.
Sq m: 155 (1,700 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
walk around it makes the setting ideal for the active. There’s a quick pedestrian access to Mahon Point’s shopping centre, cinema and restaurants nearby. New to market with Jeremy Murphy & Associates, No 64 has been well minded, and extended, so there are two very good reception rooms, including one in what was the added-on bit, 23’ front to back, with windows on the side wall as well as at the front and with rear patio doors adding to the light flow. There’s also patio/garden access from the open kitchen/dining room, with a max measurement of 18’ by 17’. VERDICT: All ready for a trading up family.
IKE its domestic counterpart, the activity of the Irish abroad has been severely curtailed by happenings in our own and our nearest neighbours’ financial markets. We are not, suffice it to say, setting the world alight with headline purchases in the world’s most chic areas anymore. Indeed, you are more likely to read of trophy assets purchased by high flying Irish individuals and syndicates being sold at knockdown prices than to find our fellow countrymen gracing the pages of the press having snapped up bargains. Some Irish investors are being shown to have been a lot less “canny” than might have been suspected on first impressions. During 2011 we have been treated to numerous stories of headline-grabbing investors like Derek Quinlan, Treasury Asset Management and Sean Quinn being forced to shed assets at a fraction of the values for which they were purchased. This is quite ironic because with all that has happened in a range of property markets across the world over the past four years, there are opportunities to purchase at a price point that hasn’t been seen for up to two decades. Unfortunately, the Irish bought much of their property portfolios during a boom time with a glut of cheap finance being pushed very heavily by banks wanting to voraciously expand their operations. The result obviously hasn’t been good for the banks, for which we will be paying for many generations to come. What is less easy to see is the private personal problems that have ensued for Irish property owners, both home and abroad, as the banks have equally voraciously begun to recall these loans, showing very little mercy while doing so. So would it be correct to assume that the majority of the world’s property markets are in price freefall? Ours is more so than any other, but most markets aren’t setting the world alight at the moment. Looking around Europe you would certainly struggle to find a ‘booming’ market (not that booming markets are anything to aspire to, as we’ve learned to our cost). An in depth discussion of all the markets across the world is beyond the scope of a short piece like this, but if you want to see some comparisons you could visit http://bit.ly/sz6X33, where you’ll find the Knight Frank Q3 2011 House Price Index. It’s not perfect, but as a method to compare the performance of a range of markets it’s certainly not a bad place to start. The Jones Lang La Salle Global Real Estate Transparency Index for 2010 (http://bit.ly/smAKE3), which compares how countries allow locals and foreigners alike do business in the real estate markets in individual countries, is also worthy of some consideration. If you visit the Knight Frank site you’ll notice the fairly grim heading “Global Property Market Stagnates”, which is, of course, taking the world market as a whole. During the year up to Q3 2011, house prices fell in 54% of the countries monitored by the index and average price growth was zero. Very few property markets in which Irish investors are involved have much positive price growth associated with them, apart from Estonia, Slovenia, France, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland and Canada. Other countries showing very moderate, growth over the past year include Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. Unsurprisingly, Ireland is propping up the table in 51st place with total estimated price drop over the past 12 months of 14.3%. It may, however, come as somewhat of a surprise to find we are in the company of Russia which has seen a 10.7% drop in prices over the past year. Others in negative territory include Cyprus, Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, the US and Portugal. It may also come as somewhat of a surprise that prices are largely stagnant in Dubai, as well as in Britain, both of which were Irish favourites in the boom years. Dubai, in particular, suffered very badly when it’s market
A view of the beach in the resort of Golden Sands, Bulgaria. Tourist markets on the coast and ski resorts in Bulgaria continue to struggle, but demand for high quality property in Sofia is remarkably resilient.
The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Prices are largely stagnant in Dubai, which was an Irish favourite in the boom years.
belatedly went into price decline, so Irish investors there will be happy to see that plummeting values appear to have eased off somewhat. On the Mediterranean, Porto Montenegro in Tivat, Montenegro, is the fastest selling project in the region. Like Bulgaria, Montenegro’s holiday home market relies on Russia’s fortunes. Demand is driven by those looking for berths for large yachts, of which there is somewhat of a shortage in Europe. Michael Fingleton’s ill-fated investment in the large abandoned Hotel Fjord on the beautiful Kotor Bay has made the country headline news once again in Ireland. Neighbouring Croatia depends more on the British market and, as such, is struggling. The market now mainly revolves around Croats buying properties back from Irish and British owners. If joining the EU is still a good thing, which is debatable, then Croatia may benefit from its confirmed entry in 2013. In Bulgaria, tourist markets on the coast and ski resorts continue to struggle, but demand for high
quality property in Sofia is remarkably resilient. In Hungary, reports are that rents are holding very stable in the better areas of Budapest but, like Ireland, the country is very much in the grip of austerity, and has been for longer than most. Properties in good quality areas with rental demand are, however, holding their value. There’s no way to wrap up the US in a short piece, it is a conglomeration of markets ranging in fortunes. The north-east continues to perform reasonably well but fortunes are still waning as you head toward the southern coastlines. Bargains are certainly to be had if you are in the market but, much like Ireland, finance is the chief stumbling block. Beware of really cheap ‘rental-ready’ products being sold at apparently ‘rock-bottom’ prices, particularly in places like Detroit. They are available for virtually nothing locally so the mark-up for the agents is huge and rental income can be difficult to come by.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:05/01/2012Time:12:05:35Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:4
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PROPERTY
TRADING UP
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Counting the cost
We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country
PROPERTY FEATURE
The slump in world markets continues to affect Irish people who splashed out in the boom, writes Diarmaid Condon
L SKIBBEREEN, CORK €240,000 Sq m: 118 (1,290 sq ft) BER rating: C3
Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes
GREEN fingered owners clearly are behind the joys of this Cooranuller bungalow in west Cork, six miles from both Skibbereen and Ballydehob, by Aughadown. The three-bed, single-storey home is on three-quarters of an acre that’s been landscaped and planted, with seating areas and a rockery in the garden to enjoy the planting, country views and bird-life from. It came to market just before Christmas with Maeve McCarthy of Charles P McCarthy auctioneers in Skib, who seeks offers around €240,000 for the home, ideal for traders down or up, and especially those who relish the pleasures of west Cork countryside, and a gentle climate to foster garden growth. The coast isn’t too far away either, she adds. While quiet, the area isn’t remote, and is fairly well serviced for those with a car to hand. The property has its own graveled drive, plus attached 230 sq ft garage, as well as garden shed. Internally, rooms include a 15’ by 13’ sitting room, kitchen, dining room, utility room and main bathroom, with three bedrooms, one of which has a shower room en suite. VERDICT: A lovely bungalow, with even better gardens, for those who want to spend time out in their own slice of the great outdoors.
GLENBEIGH, CO KERRY €175,000 Sq m: 139 (1,550 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes
THERE’S a great opportunity here for the Dublin diaspora to finally buy that home near the sea. What with settlement packages flying around like snuff at a wake this month, and a tsunami of civil servants retiring early in February, this house is perfect for the Young Age Pensioners. Located on the outskirts of Glenbeigh village in one of the loveliest parts of west Kerry, this is a new build home but one with lots of character. And according to selling agent Sarah O’Keeffe, even though the house hasn’t been used for a while, it was warm and dry when she went to measure up for sale. Standing on a half acre site (again, she says the site is unruly, but would respond to a good strim), there’s huge potential and the property has those allimportant sea views. The interior is open plan, with lots of exposed beams and sheeted panelling, but it’s not de trop, in fact, the interior only needs a little tweaking to become the perfect hideaway. VERDICT: Built in red sandstone, with stone wall interiors and finished to a high standard, this house could be scooped up at a handy price, with just a little negotiation. And the vendor is willing to include the furniture too. The site is fully enclosed and is minutes from shops and services.
SKEHARD ROAD, CORK €250,000 Sq m: 100 (1,100 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
VERDICT: Buyers who don’t need four bedrooms in a 1,100 sq ft home could consider making one a dressing room, study/home office or the like.
No 64 Castlemeadows must be one of the larger family homes in the peninsula end of Cork’s Skehard Road. Thanks to a two-storey side and rear extension, it fits in about 1,700 sq ft of space in all, with a good spread on both levels: one of the four bedrooms is en suite, there’s a first floor study as well, plus accessible part-floored attic space. Home to the house proud, it has got a good mix of living space and bedrooms, as well as a very usable back garden with lots of patio paving, with green areas outside it cul de sac setting. And, the location near the Ringmahon Road, close to where the Mahon peninsula has that great amenity to
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
SET in a scheme of detached bungalows is Jalna, a handy-sized home with up to four bedrooms fitted into its 1,100 sq ft, all on the one level. Jalna is No 27 Oakdene, off the Skehard Road by the CSO offices, and so has easy access (traffic peak times permitting) to the south ring road, to Mahon Point, to the employment base at City Gate, as well as the gentler attractions of the River Lee by the Marina a short distance away. Jalna is for sale with Paul O’Shea of FML Properties, carrying a €250,000 price tag, and he says it has been decorated and kept to a high standard, with a low maintenance rear garden with lots of gravel and paving. The walled-in back garden includes a shed and dog kennel. Rooms include a 16’ by 10’ living room to the front, overlooking a green area, a kitchen/dining room with breakfast bar divide and patio doors, main bathroom and four bedrooms, all fairly much on the compact side.
SKEHARD ROAD, CORK €265,000
KINSALE, CORK €295,000 Sq m: 232 (2,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
A BIT old fashioned in bungalow design stakes, but sizeable and with scope nonetheless, is the four-bed 2,500 sq ft bungalow called Friars Gate. Located on a quarter acre site on the Innishannon side of Kinsale town with elevated views, selling agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald says its only “a hop, skip and a jump from the town centre”. It’s old school in that it’s a genuine bungalow, with all its space on the one level, so maybe going the dormer extension route (subject to planning) could open possibilities (and more views) for new owners who will probably be looking at further spending and modernising in any case. High up on its sloping site, right now it has a single 16’ by 12’ living room, and larger, decent and bright 26’ by 13’ kitchen/dining room to the left hand side, with utility behind, and has its four bedrooms and sole bathroom off towards the right and the rear. On the far right, is a split-level garage, primed for home office or den use. VERDICT: Lots to work with here, in a good town location, and the house will respond well to upgrades.
Sq m: 155 (1,700 sq ft) BER rating: Pending
Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes
walk around it makes the setting ideal for the active. There’s a quick pedestrian access to Mahon Point’s shopping centre, cinema and restaurants nearby. New to market with Jeremy Murphy & Associates, No 64 has been well minded, and extended, so there are two very good reception rooms, including one in what was the added-on bit, 23’ front to back, with windows on the side wall as well as at the front and with rear patio doors adding to the light flow. There’s also patio/garden access from the open kitchen/dining room, with a max measurement of 18’ by 17’. VERDICT: All ready for a trading up family.
IKE its domestic counterpart, the activity of the Irish abroad has been severely curtailed by happenings in our own and our nearest neighbours’ financial markets. We are not, suffice it to say, setting the world alight with headline purchases in the world’s most chic areas anymore. Indeed, you are more likely to read of trophy assets purchased by high flying Irish individuals and syndicates being sold at knockdown prices than to find our fellow countrymen gracing the pages of the press having snapped up bargains. Some Irish investors are being shown to have been a lot less “canny” than might have been suspected on first impressions. During 2011 we have been treated to numerous stories of headline-grabbing investors like Derek Quinlan, Treasury Asset Management and Sean Quinn being forced to shed assets at a fraction of the values for which they were purchased. This is quite ironic because with all that has happened in a range of property markets across the world over the past four years, there are opportunities to purchase at a price point that hasn’t been seen for up to two decades. Unfortunately, the Irish bought much of their property portfolios during a boom time with a glut of cheap finance being pushed very heavily by banks wanting to voraciously expand their operations. The result obviously hasn’t been good for the banks, for which we will be paying for many generations to come. What is less easy to see is the private personal problems that have ensued for Irish property owners, both home and abroad, as the banks have equally voraciously begun to recall these loans, showing very little mercy while doing so. So would it be correct to assume that the majority of the world’s property markets are in price freefall? Ours is more so than any other, but most markets aren’t setting the world alight at the moment. Looking around Europe you would certainly struggle to find a ‘booming’ market (not that booming markets are anything to aspire to, as we’ve learned to our cost). An in depth discussion of all the markets across the world is beyond the scope of a short piece like this, but if you want to see some comparisons you could visit http://bit.ly/sz6X33, where you’ll find the Knight Frank Q3 2011 House Price Index. It’s not perfect, but as a method to compare the performance of a range of markets it’s certainly not a bad place to start. The Jones Lang La Salle Global Real Estate Transparency Index for 2010 (http://bit.ly/smAKE3), which compares how countries allow locals and foreigners alike do business in the real estate markets in individual countries, is also worthy of some consideration. If you visit the Knight Frank site you’ll notice the fairly grim heading “Global Property Market Stagnates”, which is, of course, taking the world market as a whole. During the year up to Q3 2011, house prices fell in 54% of the countries monitored by the index and average price growth was zero. Very few property markets in which Irish investors are involved have much positive price growth associated with them, apart from Estonia, Slovenia, France, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland and Canada. Other countries showing very moderate, growth over the past year include Germany, Lithuania and Sweden. Unsurprisingly, Ireland is propping up the table in 51st place with total estimated price drop over the past 12 months of 14.3%. It may, however, come as somewhat of a surprise to find we are in the company of Russia which has seen a 10.7% drop in prices over the past year. Others in negative territory include Cyprus, Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, the US and Portugal. It may also come as somewhat of a surprise that prices are largely stagnant in Dubai, as well as in Britain, both of which were Irish favourites in the boom years. Dubai, in particular, suffered very badly when it’s market
A view of the beach in the resort of Golden Sands, Bulgaria. Tourist markets on the coast and ski resorts in Bulgaria continue to struggle, but demand for high quality property in Sofia is remarkably resilient.
The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Prices are largely stagnant in Dubai, which was an Irish favourite in the boom years.
belatedly went into price decline, so Irish investors there will be happy to see that plummeting values appear to have eased off somewhat. On the Mediterranean, Porto Montenegro in Tivat, Montenegro, is the fastest selling project in the region. Like Bulgaria, Montenegro’s holiday home market relies on Russia’s fortunes. Demand is driven by those looking for berths for large yachts, of which there is somewhat of a shortage in Europe. Michael Fingleton’s ill-fated investment in the large abandoned Hotel Fjord on the beautiful Kotor Bay has made the country headline news once again in Ireland. Neighbouring Croatia depends more on the British market and, as such, is struggling. The market now mainly revolves around Croats buying properties back from Irish and British owners. If joining the EU is still a good thing, which is debatable, then Croatia may benefit from its confirmed entry in 2013. In Bulgaria, tourist markets on the coast and ski resorts continue to struggle, but demand for high
quality property in Sofia is remarkably resilient. In Hungary, reports are that rents are holding very stable in the better areas of Budapest but, like Ireland, the country is very much in the grip of austerity, and has been for longer than most. Properties in good quality areas with rental demand are, however, holding their value. There’s no way to wrap up the US in a short piece, it is a conglomeration of markets ranging in fortunes. The north-east continues to perform reasonably well but fortunes are still waning as you head toward the southern coastlines. Bargains are certainly to be had if you are in the market but, much like Ireland, finance is the chief stumbling block. Beware of really cheap ‘rental-ready’ products being sold at apparently ‘rock-bottom’ prices, particularly in places like Detroit. They are available for virtually nothing locally so the mark-up for the agents is huge and rental income can be difficult to come by.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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COVER STORY
COVER STORY
A River Bandon house that is truly unique
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Best feature:
Innishannon, Cork Not disclosed 312 sq m (3,345 sq ft) 4 Pending Superb quality build
Tommy Barker visits a house set in mature woodland, so closely in touch with nature that fauna comes right to its door
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HE word ‘unique’ gets bandied about with some abandon in property-speak, but here’s a River Bandon house that earns the soubriquet. It’s timber-framed, with quality woods featuring extensively inside and out. Then, to crown it all, it is set in a copse of dense, mature woodland, a house closely in touch with nature, so close that woodland fauna comes right to its door. As an added bonus, fish can come to its site boundary too. This one-off home of individual character, called Shipool Lodge, has one section of its several private acres of site coming with 120ft of river frontage and pier to the lower, tidal stretches of the River Bandon, allowing easy access to a boat, and on then a couple of wending wooded miles to Kinsale, to the ocean beyond. Located a mile or so downriver of Innishannon, and thus close to both Bandon and Kinsale and with Cork city and airport a 15 to 20-minute spin away, Shipool Lodge is being quietly marketed by Bandon estate agent Brendan Bowe, for its owner and designer, a Continental European businessman who has been several decades living here. It’s the second house he’s built on this site, as the first was hit by fire, and this replacement kept faith with the original house’s feel and look. It’s now offered for sale as the owner is down-sizing. It packs in a lot into one upmarket package, with a sizeable main house, complete with very extensive libraries with ceiling-high walls lined with books, plus a separate but adjacent second building, with ground-floor garage, and a selfcontained guest apartment bedsit/overhead, plus as a workshop. It can only be barely glimpsed from the
6
Pictures: John Herriott Innishannon-Kinsale road below it, thanks to its cloak of trees. The consequence of such close proximity of planting is shading from trees which darkens the interiors. It’s possibly at its brightest on a
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
clear and sunny winter’s day, when the deciduous trees are without greenery. Other than that, you know you are living in the woods, views are graded from near to mid-distance: there are no long vistas here.
There’s something decidedly Continental about its looks and finishes. Externally, the impression is immediately conveyed by its deep overhang eaves, usually needed for shedding heavy snow, as well as keeping water away from its rough-rendered walls and abundant climbing plants, from roses to wisterias, while fascias and window frames are sympathetic in cedar and Scandinavian pines. Internally, there’s a plethora of woods used in the finishes, ranging from Scandinavian blonds to darker russets, but most distinguished of all are the pitch pines, used in lots of floors and ceilings. Shipool Lodge is a sort of catalogue of ‘best of ’ materials, including stone, brick, copper, tile and glass, but it is at somewhat of a variance with contemporary tastes. Minimalist it isn’t. It’s a super-snug house in lots of ways, with good insulation standards and exemplary glazing, but you’d have to hope it is tightly enveloped, as it is, first of all, sizeable, and the presence of things like a gym, sauna, several hot-tubs and an air-conditioned gym/leisure centre with compact swimming pool with counter-flow current for swimming exercise is going to push up energy and running costs, naturally enough. Layout is individual, if not idiosyncratic, with the main core and living room a soaring double height space with galleried landing around an enormous chimney breast. The main house is relatively short on bedroom numbers for its size, with three proper bedrooms plus another sleeping area by one of the several libraries. As several rooms inter-connect, there are possibilities of varying uses, or adaptations. As it stands, it has been designed very much for the owners’ lifestyle, so book
storage, display and reading areas gets lots of space, with custom-made polished dark wood shelving, rising up walls and even columns, with ladders on wheels for access. Also setting Shipool Lodge apart is the raft of leisure facilities, from gym with sauna, large hot-tub set into a virtual internal rockery, with plunge pool, to the short swimming pool with powered controllable counter current to swim against, with air conditioning to keep air fresh, all against a Romanesque backdrop of art and statuary. Up under an apex roof is a
home cinema, a completed black-out space, with projector, surround sound and pull-down screen, with plenty of lounging space in this 22’ by 8’ carefully installed room. Estate agent Brendan Bowe rightly describes the house as ‘bespoke,’ or tailored, but it is adaptable to more regular family use too, perhaps by moving a few walls around. It’s one of those houses where the best of materials have been used, especially the timbers and the pitch-pine flooring, and the kitchen, though it looks old fashioned, has an entirely functional spread of services,
with a backdrop of luscious, deep-glazed hand-made tiles, while a custom-built copper canopy is set above the hob. Shipool Lodge’s heart is its hearth, a soaring, brick chimney breast in the doubleheight living space, which has double doors and lots of glazing to the south-facing patio, ringed by high trees, stone terraces, and water features, and more statuary. Behind, the back of the house is sheltered by a carport, giving plenty of dry storage space, ideal for drying timber for the several fireplaces in the main residence, such as in the 30’ by
18’ atrium-like living room, and the master bedroom which has a very continental looking glazed-tile stove. One of the many private library sanctuaries has a fireplace with gas insert. Auctioneer Brendan Bowe, who doesn’t disclose an asking price (likely to be in the very broad €1 million to €2m category) had lined up a few select viewings over the holiday period from overseas. They are attracted by the proximity to the airport, Kinsale, west Cork and more. Having a part of the ground across the road with direct
river access to the tidal sections of the River Bandon is a bonus, especially for boat owners. It is, says Mr Bowe, “tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access. Truly, an individual home for the individual who seeks perfection and privacy”.
Tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access
VERDICT: You won’t be ambivalent about this woodland property mix; it’s either right up your street, or off-piste.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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COVER STORY
COVER STORY
A River Bandon house that is truly unique
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Best feature:
Innishannon, Cork Not disclosed 312 sq m (3,345 sq ft) 4 Pending Superb quality build
Tommy Barker visits a house set in mature woodland, so closely in touch with nature that fauna comes right to its door
T
HE word ‘unique’ gets bandied about with some abandon in property-speak, but here’s a River Bandon house that earns the soubriquet. It’s timber-framed, with quality woods featuring extensively inside and out. Then, to crown it all, it is set in a copse of dense, mature woodland, a house closely in touch with nature, so close that woodland fauna comes right to its door. As an added bonus, fish can come to its site boundary too. This one-off home of individual character, called Shipool Lodge, has one section of its several private acres of site coming with 120ft of river frontage and pier to the lower, tidal stretches of the River Bandon, allowing easy access to a boat, and on then a couple of wending wooded miles to Kinsale, to the ocean beyond. Located a mile or so downriver of Innishannon, and thus close to both Bandon and Kinsale and with Cork city and airport a 15 to 20-minute spin away, Shipool Lodge is being quietly marketed by Bandon estate agent Brendan Bowe, for its owner and designer, a Continental European businessman who has been several decades living here. It’s the second house he’s built on this site, as the first was hit by fire, and this replacement kept faith with the original house’s feel and look. It’s now offered for sale as the owner is down-sizing. It packs in a lot into one upmarket package, with a sizeable main house, complete with very extensive libraries with ceiling-high walls lined with books, plus a separate but adjacent second building, with ground-floor garage, and a selfcontained guest apartment bedsit/overhead, plus as a workshop. It can only be barely glimpsed from the
6
Pictures: John Herriott Innishannon-Kinsale road below it, thanks to its cloak of trees. The consequence of such close proximity of planting is shading from trees which darkens the interiors. It’s possibly at its brightest on a
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
clear and sunny winter’s day, when the deciduous trees are without greenery. Other than that, you know you are living in the woods, views are graded from near to mid-distance: there are no long vistas here.
There’s something decidedly Continental about its looks and finishes. Externally, the impression is immediately conveyed by its deep overhang eaves, usually needed for shedding heavy snow, as well as keeping water away from its rough-rendered walls and abundant climbing plants, from roses to wisterias, while fascias and window frames are sympathetic in cedar and Scandinavian pines. Internally, there’s a plethora of woods used in the finishes, ranging from Scandinavian blonds to darker russets, but most distinguished of all are the pitch pines, used in lots of floors and ceilings. Shipool Lodge is a sort of catalogue of ‘best of ’ materials, including stone, brick, copper, tile and glass, but it is at somewhat of a variance with contemporary tastes. Minimalist it isn’t. It’s a super-snug house in lots of ways, with good insulation standards and exemplary glazing, but you’d have to hope it is tightly enveloped, as it is, first of all, sizeable, and the presence of things like a gym, sauna, several hot-tubs and an air-conditioned gym/leisure centre with compact swimming pool with counter-flow current for swimming exercise is going to push up energy and running costs, naturally enough. Layout is individual, if not idiosyncratic, with the main core and living room a soaring double height space with galleried landing around an enormous chimney breast. The main house is relatively short on bedroom numbers for its size, with three proper bedrooms plus another sleeping area by one of the several libraries. As several rooms inter-connect, there are possibilities of varying uses, or adaptations. As it stands, it has been designed very much for the owners’ lifestyle, so book
storage, display and reading areas gets lots of space, with custom-made polished dark wood shelving, rising up walls and even columns, with ladders on wheels for access. Also setting Shipool Lodge apart is the raft of leisure facilities, from gym with sauna, large hot-tub set into a virtual internal rockery, with plunge pool, to the short swimming pool with powered controllable counter current to swim against, with air conditioning to keep air fresh, all against a Romanesque backdrop of art and statuary. Up under an apex roof is a
home cinema, a completed black-out space, with projector, surround sound and pull-down screen, with plenty of lounging space in this 22’ by 8’ carefully installed room. Estate agent Brendan Bowe rightly describes the house as ‘bespoke,’ or tailored, but it is adaptable to more regular family use too, perhaps by moving a few walls around. It’s one of those houses where the best of materials have been used, especially the timbers and the pitch-pine flooring, and the kitchen, though it looks old fashioned, has an entirely functional spread of services,
with a backdrop of luscious, deep-glazed hand-made tiles, while a custom-built copper canopy is set above the hob. Shipool Lodge’s heart is its hearth, a soaring, brick chimney breast in the doubleheight living space, which has double doors and lots of glazing to the south-facing patio, ringed by high trees, stone terraces, and water features, and more statuary. Behind, the back of the house is sheltered by a carport, giving plenty of dry storage space, ideal for drying timber for the several fireplaces in the main residence, such as in the 30’ by
18’ atrium-like living room, and the master bedroom which has a very continental looking glazed-tile stove. One of the many private library sanctuaries has a fireplace with gas insert. Auctioneer Brendan Bowe, who doesn’t disclose an asking price (likely to be in the very broad €1 million to €2m category) had lined up a few select viewings over the holiday period from overseas. They are attracted by the proximity to the airport, Kinsale, west Cork and more. Having a part of the ground across the road with direct
river access to the tidal sections of the River Bandon is a bonus, especially for boat owners. It is, says Mr Bowe, “tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access. Truly, an individual home for the individual who seeks perfection and privacy”.
Tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access
VERDICT: You won’t be ambivalent about this woodland property mix; it’s either right up your street, or off-piste.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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COVER STORY
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GETTHELOOK
Some great ideas for you to use in your home and where to get them 1
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1 Deep eaves provide shelter for house and inhabitants, here there’s a seating area outside a first-floor bedroom’s French doors.
2 There’s nothing cosier than a book-lined den: full shelves are like reminders of old friendships.
3 If you’ve the space, a day-bed in the corner of a quiet room will invite contemplation and relaxation.
4 Arched doorways provide a different ‘frame’ to internal views.
5 Healthy plants are the sign of a healthy house.
6 Plant, and then overplant, your patio spaces for exuberant life and growth.
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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COVER STORY
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GETTHELOOK
Some great ideas for you to use in your home and where to get them 1
2
3
4
5
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1 Deep eaves provide shelter for house and inhabitants, here there’s a seating area outside a first-floor bedroom’s French doors.
2 There’s nothing cosier than a book-lined den: full shelves are like reminders of old friendships.
3 If you’ve the space, a day-bed in the corner of a quiet room will invite contemplation and relaxation.
4 Arched doorways provide a different ‘frame’ to internal views.
5 Healthy plants are the sign of a healthy house.
6 Plant, and then overplant, your patio spaces for exuberant life and growth.
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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PROPERTY
Ship ahoy for appealing townhouses These visually engaging homes have a Kinsale view. Tommy Barker reports
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:
Kinsale, Cork €375,000 Sq m 177 (1,900 sq ft) 4 B2 Yes
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Home energy boost
HOME ECONOMICS
There are plenty of grants available for people to make their homes more energy efficient, as Kya deLongchamps discovers
R T
HERE’S only a dozen houses here in Kinsale’s Admiral’s Walk, in two runs of terraces, and they’re both niche and
popular. The large townhouses’ design is clever, and visually engaging, with sections stepped forward and back with some hung-slate sections and balconies to break up the run of joined-up facades. Located up above the entrance to
Kinsale harbour, on the Cork side, the three-storey No 12 is, handily, end of terrace, with both a side yard and a back garden, and has four en suite bedrooms, one on the top floor, the other three are in the mid-level, and the master bed to the back on the middle level has views down towards Kinsale town from its raised balcony, looking over and past its back garden. The ground level is open and bright, with a 18’ by 12’ kitchen/dining room to
the front, and an 18’ by 17’ living room behind, with wide bay window and doors to the back garden. There’s also a study, plus utility and a fifth WC. Pleasant-looking Admiral’s Walk was built by the well-regarded John Buckley, and the front gardens are more or less open and communal, with reserved storage areas. No 12’s rear gardens are accessed via the study, or the living room, opening to vies of the yacht club, for wanna-be admirals.
Characterful period property The house price has been cut to tempt buyers. Tommy Barker reports
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VERDICT: There’s a nice floor plan to these well-detailed Kinsale townhouses, now selling for €375,000 or so.
Killeens, Ballymakeera, Co Cork €400,000 214 sq ms (2,303 sq ft) 4 Pending Yes
Some 54% of men claim to making having their home adequately insulated compared to 43% of women who tend to notice a draught or cold spot.
Government-aided grant and an additional 38% would spend between €500 and €1,000. Mr Prentice goes on: “Poor roof and cavity wall insulation were cited as the main reason people believe their home to be poorly insulated and in fact these are two really simple and straight-forward improvements.” The survey shows that 73% of people would consider home insulation if and when they could afford it. It also seems that now fully aware of what’s on offer, over half (56%) said they were likely to take part in energy efficiency schemes run through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland website and their local councils. Where to now? For everything you need to know about saving energy at home plus the application process for the SEAI grant-aided Better Energy Homes Schemes, log onto seai.ie or call 1850 927 000. Low-income households and those
on the National Fuel Allowance may be eligible for Warmer Homes grant aid. Log onto www.seai.ie or call 1800 250 204. Well & Warm is also useful for those struggling with fuel bills. www.wellandwarm.ie. The utility companies in Ireland are pro-active in providing customers with up-to-the-minute advice and even tailored financial products for energy saving investments. The Bord Gáis Energy Home Team can manage the SEAI grant approval process as part of the Better Home Bonus plan, which includes an attic and cavity wall insulation package with 0% interest-free payments up to 12 months. They also sort out your SEAI grant so you only pay the total cost less the grant and take off a special discount. ■ www.bordgaisenergy.ie/hometeam
Theory and practise: Good habits at home?
T’S the perfect period property — not too big, not too small, not too old and yet, old enough. Tig Danushe is a characterful neoGeorgian house near Ballymakeera, Co Cork and it’s been halved in price to tempt buyers — the gentleman farmer’s residence is now down to €400,000 from an initial, €750,000. Set on a tree-lined acre site and located just outside the village, it looks almost like a child’s drawing — windows on either side of a simple,
10
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:
According to selling agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, No 12’s interior “is second-to-none with the use of very attractive materials to include solid hard wood flooring, quality carpeting, quality fitted kitchen with granite worktops and natural yet warm tones throughout”.
ECENTLY a survey of 500 people was conducted by an independent research agency on behalf of Bord Gáis Energy Home Team services. The results provide a compelling snapshot of what householders know about the potential energy savings available through improvements to their property, and their real behaviour and motivations when using and economising with their utilities and appliances. What men and women really want? 62% of male respondents said they were familiar with energy efficiency schemes compared to 46% of females. Curiously, despite this greater awareness, a larger proportion of women appear to be environmentally motivated, 50% declaring they would make improvements principally to reduce their ‘carbon footprint’ compared to 40% of men, who prioritise cost savings. Women appear to be more sensitive to their immediate environment, with 54% of men having laid claim to making their home adequately insulated compared to 43% of women who tend to notice a draught or cold spot. Not to be outdone, a whopping 74% of men would champion having a home energy audit carried out to save costs in the long run. Knowledge really is power. Aware, but ready to act? Our wisdom on grant-aided energy saving schemes seems to increase markedly with the cold, hard realities of a longer lifetime fighting utility bills, damp and the cruelty of a cold house. Those in the 1834 age bracket are the least aware of the current schemes (42%) while the awareness level of 35-54-year-olds is 52%. An impressive 66% of over-55s are aware of current schemes. Mark Prentice, head of retail at Bord Gáis Energy says that “two in every five people surveyed (43%) felt their homes were poorly insulated to deal with such harsh weather. Those living in urban areas were more concerned with every second respondent (54%) feeling their home did not have proper insulation, compared to rural areas where 31% were of the same opinion”. The vast majority of respondents are ready to put their money where their concerns are. If the survey does reflect national attitudes, 24% of us are willing to stump up an extra €2,000 to top up a
curved door case and three bays on the first floor. However, the house is surprisingly roomy and stretches out at the back to offer good space and a modern arrangement in a fully renovated shell. The owners made sure there were plenty of bathrooms when remodelling the property and it offers four bathrooms to four bedrooms. And they made sure to insulate and re-point the thick stone walls and sand blast the exterior to bring the stone
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
back to life. They also replaced the old windows in favour of new, double glazed sashes and have re-floored, re-plumbed and rewired the building without compromising its character. Buyers, however, should find it cosy and easy to manage and according to Nora Cohalan of agents, Godsil Cohalan, it’s sweet and well maintained inside. The house has a typical layout with two formal rooms, a modern kitchen dining room at the back, with old cast
iron stove and Canadian oak flooring, (which is used throughout the house), a utility room and guest bathroom. On the upper level there are two large suites facing south and a main bathroom which services two further bedrooms. VERDICT:With lots of privacy and just enough garden to cope with, Tig Danushe offers period living in a location easily accessible to Killarney, Kenmare, Cork city and Macroom town.
N
OW, having wittered on like an aged fishwife for years in the pages of this paper, I found the energy-saving practise area of the Bord Gáis Home Team survey uplifting. It’s good to know, that whereas we might not always behave as well as we should, we do know how we should be behaving to knock those bills on the head and lighten the load on our struggling little planet. The overall majority of respondents showed a strong awareness of the different ways to reduce energy consumption in their household.
● Switching off lights came top of the measures in terms of awareness (94%) ● Use of CFL bulbs (89%) ● Not leaving appliances on standby (86%) ● Keeping doors and windows closed (80%) ● Only boiling the required amount of water in the kettle (80%) ● Putting central heating on timer (76%) ● Turning down heating thermostat by one degree (75%) ● Buying A-rated appliances (75%)
● Closing curtains at night/opening during the day to let sunlight in (65%) This is the theory and in some cases practise is a lot less impressive. Only 58% of those surveyed say they would actually buy an A-rated appliance (possibly due to the acknowledged extra expense); while 68% said they would not take the trouble to turn appliances off rather than leaving them on standby. Considering this last casual neglect can leave a 50% bleed of electricity for the small trouble of pushing a switch, we clearly have a way to go.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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PROPERTY
Ship ahoy for appealing townhouses These visually engaging homes have a Kinsale view. Tommy Barker reports
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:
Kinsale, Cork €375,000 Sq m 177 (1,900 sq ft) 4 B2 Yes
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Home energy boost
HOME ECONOMICS
There are plenty of grants available for people to make their homes more energy efficient, as Kya deLongchamps discovers
R T
HERE’S only a dozen houses here in Kinsale’s Admiral’s Walk, in two runs of terraces, and they’re both niche and
popular. The large townhouses’ design is clever, and visually engaging, with sections stepped forward and back with some hung-slate sections and balconies to break up the run of joined-up facades. Located up above the entrance to
Kinsale harbour, on the Cork side, the three-storey No 12 is, handily, end of terrace, with both a side yard and a back garden, and has four en suite bedrooms, one on the top floor, the other three are in the mid-level, and the master bed to the back on the middle level has views down towards Kinsale town from its raised balcony, looking over and past its back garden. The ground level is open and bright, with a 18’ by 12’ kitchen/dining room to
the front, and an 18’ by 17’ living room behind, with wide bay window and doors to the back garden. There’s also a study, plus utility and a fifth WC. Pleasant-looking Admiral’s Walk was built by the well-regarded John Buckley, and the front gardens are more or less open and communal, with reserved storage areas. No 12’s rear gardens are accessed via the study, or the living room, opening to vies of the yacht club, for wanna-be admirals.
Characterful period property The house price has been cut to tempt buyers. Tommy Barker reports
I
VERDICT: There’s a nice floor plan to these well-detailed Kinsale townhouses, now selling for €375,000 or so.
Killeens, Ballymakeera, Co Cork €400,000 214 sq ms (2,303 sq ft) 4 Pending Yes
Some 54% of men claim to making having their home adequately insulated compared to 43% of women who tend to notice a draught or cold spot.
Government-aided grant and an additional 38% would spend between €500 and €1,000. Mr Prentice goes on: “Poor roof and cavity wall insulation were cited as the main reason people believe their home to be poorly insulated and in fact these are two really simple and straight-forward improvements.” The survey shows that 73% of people would consider home insulation if and when they could afford it. It also seems that now fully aware of what’s on offer, over half (56%) said they were likely to take part in energy efficiency schemes run through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland website and their local councils. Where to now? For everything you need to know about saving energy at home plus the application process for the SEAI grant-aided Better Energy Homes Schemes, log onto seai.ie or call 1850 927 000. Low-income households and those
on the National Fuel Allowance may be eligible for Warmer Homes grant aid. Log onto www.seai.ie or call 1800 250 204. Well & Warm is also useful for those struggling with fuel bills. www.wellandwarm.ie. The utility companies in Ireland are pro-active in providing customers with up-to-the-minute advice and even tailored financial products for energy saving investments. The Bord Gáis Energy Home Team can manage the SEAI grant approval process as part of the Better Home Bonus plan, which includes an attic and cavity wall insulation package with 0% interest-free payments up to 12 months. They also sort out your SEAI grant so you only pay the total cost less the grant and take off a special discount. ■ www.bordgaisenergy.ie/hometeam
Theory and practise: Good habits at home?
T’S the perfect period property — not too big, not too small, not too old and yet, old enough. Tig Danushe is a characterful neoGeorgian house near Ballymakeera, Co Cork and it’s been halved in price to tempt buyers — the gentleman farmer’s residence is now down to €400,000 from an initial, €750,000. Set on a tree-lined acre site and located just outside the village, it looks almost like a child’s drawing — windows on either side of a simple,
10
Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:
According to selling agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, No 12’s interior “is second-to-none with the use of very attractive materials to include solid hard wood flooring, quality carpeting, quality fitted kitchen with granite worktops and natural yet warm tones throughout”.
ECENTLY a survey of 500 people was conducted by an independent research agency on behalf of Bord Gáis Energy Home Team services. The results provide a compelling snapshot of what householders know about the potential energy savings available through improvements to their property, and their real behaviour and motivations when using and economising with their utilities and appliances. What men and women really want? 62% of male respondents said they were familiar with energy efficiency schemes compared to 46% of females. Curiously, despite this greater awareness, a larger proportion of women appear to be environmentally motivated, 50% declaring they would make improvements principally to reduce their ‘carbon footprint’ compared to 40% of men, who prioritise cost savings. Women appear to be more sensitive to their immediate environment, with 54% of men having laid claim to making their home adequately insulated compared to 43% of women who tend to notice a draught or cold spot. Not to be outdone, a whopping 74% of men would champion having a home energy audit carried out to save costs in the long run. Knowledge really is power. Aware, but ready to act? Our wisdom on grant-aided energy saving schemes seems to increase markedly with the cold, hard realities of a longer lifetime fighting utility bills, damp and the cruelty of a cold house. Those in the 1834 age bracket are the least aware of the current schemes (42%) while the awareness level of 35-54-year-olds is 52%. An impressive 66% of over-55s are aware of current schemes. Mark Prentice, head of retail at Bord Gáis Energy says that “two in every five people surveyed (43%) felt their homes were poorly insulated to deal with such harsh weather. Those living in urban areas were more concerned with every second respondent (54%) feeling their home did not have proper insulation, compared to rural areas where 31% were of the same opinion”. The vast majority of respondents are ready to put their money where their concerns are. If the survey does reflect national attitudes, 24% of us are willing to stump up an extra €2,000 to top up a
curved door case and three bays on the first floor. However, the house is surprisingly roomy and stretches out at the back to offer good space and a modern arrangement in a fully renovated shell. The owners made sure there were plenty of bathrooms when remodelling the property and it offers four bathrooms to four bedrooms. And they made sure to insulate and re-point the thick stone walls and sand blast the exterior to bring the stone
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
back to life. They also replaced the old windows in favour of new, double glazed sashes and have re-floored, re-plumbed and rewired the building without compromising its character. Buyers, however, should find it cosy and easy to manage and according to Nora Cohalan of agents, Godsil Cohalan, it’s sweet and well maintained inside. The house has a typical layout with two formal rooms, a modern kitchen dining room at the back, with old cast
iron stove and Canadian oak flooring, (which is used throughout the house), a utility room and guest bathroom. On the upper level there are two large suites facing south and a main bathroom which services two further bedrooms. VERDICT:With lots of privacy and just enough garden to cope with, Tig Danushe offers period living in a location easily accessible to Killarney, Kenmare, Cork city and Macroom town.
N
OW, having wittered on like an aged fishwife for years in the pages of this paper, I found the energy-saving practise area of the Bord Gáis Home Team survey uplifting. It’s good to know, that whereas we might not always behave as well as we should, we do know how we should be behaving to knock those bills on the head and lighten the load on our struggling little planet. The overall majority of respondents showed a strong awareness of the different ways to reduce energy consumption in their household.
● Switching off lights came top of the measures in terms of awareness (94%) ● Use of CFL bulbs (89%) ● Not leaving appliances on standby (86%) ● Keeping doors and windows closed (80%) ● Only boiling the required amount of water in the kettle (80%) ● Putting central heating on timer (76%) ● Turning down heating thermostat by one degree (75%) ● Buying A-rated appliances (75%)
● Closing curtains at night/opening during the day to let sunlight in (65%) This is the theory and in some cases practise is a lot less impressive. Only 58% of those surveyed say they would actually buy an A-rated appliance (possibly due to the acknowledged extra expense); while 68% said they would not take the trouble to turn appliances off rather than leaving them on standby. Considering this last casual neglect can leave a 50% bleed of electricity for the small trouble of pushing a switch, we clearly have a way to go.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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INTERIORS
INTERIORS
We take a detailed look at one aspect of the home every week ...
New hues
IN COLOUR
Get the look without breaking the bank
■ Finding an unusual clock can be quite a challenge, especially when the fashion being inflicted on us is to have the name of the shop where it is bought emblazoned across its face. For a perfectly functional model but with high design content and a considerable amount of wit, check out this one.
Carol O’Callaghan says there’s nothing quite like a pot of paint for bringing a fresh new look to a room in your home
W
ITH the Christmas decorations packed away and the evenings starting to brighten, in just a few weeks we’ll have the western sun filling rooms with a lovely warm light in the late afternoon. Of course, it will show up every speck of dust and square inch of paint yellowed from fires burning throughout winter, and the urge to get out the paint brushes will kick in. There’s nothing quite like a pot of paint for bringing a fresh new look to a room and, for 2012, there seems to be genuine innovation in the hues available. Lighter pinks have developed a sophisticated take, bearing no resemblance to the pinks that dazzle little girls’ bedrooms. New fleshy pink hues are fresh and clean, offering a subtle warmth that offsets beautifully against pale wooden furniture, touches of white and, rather surprisingly, black. Popular retro orange, green, and mustard yellows have had a certain dullness and lacklustre but are now vamped up as we tighten our embrace on the style of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. New versions have a significant depth without being dark, and offer a vibrancy that means they won’t overwhelm our rooms. The suggested use is to confine them to a single wall or certainly on no more than two with white paint detailing to offset the colour, or white furniture such as book cases and side tables. Grey is probably the interiors surprise of the last several years having become such a popular interiors colour despite all its associations with dreariness. Yet its new variations have brought a sophistication to the shade that is not without warmth and makes a perfect foil for bright colour elsewhere in a room. It also helps to remove intensity and glare that can be offputting to paint buyers who would like a splash of brightness. While all this talk of colour, do give careful consideration to how they will actually translate on to the walls of your house, and the impact they will have on the perception of space. Linking colours from one room to the next is essential if you want to retain a feeling of spaciousness. It doesn’t mean every room has to have the same colour on everything, but that some main colours are repeated from one space to
10
Burnt orange of the 1970s is back, diluted by a white feature wall and small-scale white table (€24.99). Contrast is provided by a metal floor-standing anglepoise lamp (€55) with the overall impact softened by subdued armchair upholstery (€349). From Ikea.
Time Flies by Jenny Walsh (€26 from I Heart Design).
Colour co-ordinated Inject some colour with a few new accessories and see how you like it before painting the walls.
Try a pair of retro blue and orange mugs with a clever angled base to make balancing them on your knees easy (€10.50 from Designist).
Grey, pale blue and pink finishes on Lisa Stickley’s Dotty Rose mugs bring some on-trend colour into the kitchen (approx €7).
Try a popular 70s combination of tinted glass and the colour green with ornamental fruit from Next Interiors (€26).
Comfortable furnishings Textiles and soft furnishings are a lovely way of introducing colour and can extend a colour scheme from one room to the next. Green on grey is an on-trend combination in the Penney’s Butterfly cushion (€6). Vibrancy and life are brought to retro colours in eco-friendly Mivvi lemon on walls and Spearmint and Milk Thistle green finishes on cupboards (from €36 per 2.5ltr at The Little Green Paint Company, Cork).
the next. So, for example, the blue on your dining room walls will be repeated in cushions or a rug in your sitting room. Equally important to the aesthetic effect is to achieve a look that will stand the test of time — at least a few years — and is wallet-friendly. Repeating colours will make your decorating budget stretch further, and allow you to move furniture and accessories from room to room to give each space a fresh feel, and you can be assured they’ll work just fine in their new location without having to incur more spending. ■ Next week we go all American rustic as we check into log-cabin style
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
The Celina lampshade offers a burst of colour and will help to throw a warm glow around the room (€58 at Next Interiors).
Bright yellow can be an acquired taste. Try a hue like Babouche by Farrow & Ball which has the brand’s characteristic flatness without losing its vibrancy. Team it with Pavilion on woodwork as a refreshing change from white gloss (€44 per 2.5ltr from Pat McDonnell Paints and Boulevard Interiors).
Left: Fleshy pink wall paint is teamed with a novel grey ceiling and floor colour. The addition of blond wood bar stools and colour blocking in black creates a fresh and sophisticated hot-meets-cool finish (Dulux paints approx. €26 per 2.5ltr at B&Q). Right: Grey and duck-egg paint colours hold their place in the decorating fashion stakes. Colortrend’s Historic Icehouse (€64.95 per 5ltr) and Historic Parsons Stone (€24.95 per 1ltr) are a subtle take (from Colortrend Centres nationwide and Paintwell).
Toile patterned tea-towels in pink, red and blue bring a touch of colour to kitchen surroundings (€13 for three at M&S).
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
11
TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:05/01/2012Time:10:53:23Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:10
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V1
XP1 - V1
INTERIORS
INTERIORS
We take a detailed look at one aspect of the home every week ...
New hues
IN COLOUR
Get the look without breaking the bank
■ Finding an unusual clock can be quite a challenge, especially when the fashion being inflicted on us is to have the name of the shop where it is bought emblazoned across its face. For a perfectly functional model but with high design content and a considerable amount of wit, check out this one.
Carol O’Callaghan says there’s nothing quite like a pot of paint for bringing a fresh new look to a room in your home
W
ITH the Christmas decorations packed away and the evenings starting to brighten, in just a few weeks we’ll have the western sun filling rooms with a lovely warm light in the late afternoon. Of course, it will show up every speck of dust and square inch of paint yellowed from fires burning throughout winter, and the urge to get out the paint brushes will kick in. There’s nothing quite like a pot of paint for bringing a fresh new look to a room and, for 2012, there seems to be genuine innovation in the hues available. Lighter pinks have developed a sophisticated take, bearing no resemblance to the pinks that dazzle little girls’ bedrooms. New fleshy pink hues are fresh and clean, offering a subtle warmth that offsets beautifully against pale wooden furniture, touches of white and, rather surprisingly, black. Popular retro orange, green, and mustard yellows have had a certain dullness and lacklustre but are now vamped up as we tighten our embrace on the style of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. New versions have a significant depth without being dark, and offer a vibrancy that means they won’t overwhelm our rooms. The suggested use is to confine them to a single wall or certainly on no more than two with white paint detailing to offset the colour, or white furniture such as book cases and side tables. Grey is probably the interiors surprise of the last several years having become such a popular interiors colour despite all its associations with dreariness. Yet its new variations have brought a sophistication to the shade that is not without warmth and makes a perfect foil for bright colour elsewhere in a room. It also helps to remove intensity and glare that can be offputting to paint buyers who would like a splash of brightness. While all this talk of colour, do give careful consideration to how they will actually translate on to the walls of your house, and the impact they will have on the perception of space. Linking colours from one room to the next is essential if you want to retain a feeling of spaciousness. It doesn’t mean every room has to have the same colour on everything, but that some main colours are repeated from one space to
10
Burnt orange of the 1970s is back, diluted by a white feature wall and small-scale white table (€24.99). Contrast is provided by a metal floor-standing anglepoise lamp (€55) with the overall impact softened by subdued armchair upholstery (€349). From Ikea.
Time Flies by Jenny Walsh (€26 from I Heart Design).
Colour co-ordinated Inject some colour with a few new accessories and see how you like it before painting the walls.
Try a pair of retro blue and orange mugs with a clever angled base to make balancing them on your knees easy (€10.50 from Designist).
Grey, pale blue and pink finishes on Lisa Stickley’s Dotty Rose mugs bring some on-trend colour into the kitchen (approx €7).
Try a popular 70s combination of tinted glass and the colour green with ornamental fruit from Next Interiors (€26).
Comfortable furnishings Textiles and soft furnishings are a lovely way of introducing colour and can extend a colour scheme from one room to the next. Green on grey is an on-trend combination in the Penney’s Butterfly cushion (€6). Vibrancy and life are brought to retro colours in eco-friendly Mivvi lemon on walls and Spearmint and Milk Thistle green finishes on cupboards (from €36 per 2.5ltr at The Little Green Paint Company, Cork).
the next. So, for example, the blue on your dining room walls will be repeated in cushions or a rug in your sitting room. Equally important to the aesthetic effect is to achieve a look that will stand the test of time — at least a few years — and is wallet-friendly. Repeating colours will make your decorating budget stretch further, and allow you to move furniture and accessories from room to room to give each space a fresh feel, and you can be assured they’ll work just fine in their new location without having to incur more spending. ■ Next week we go all American rustic as we check into log-cabin style
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
The Celina lampshade offers a burst of colour and will help to throw a warm glow around the room (€58 at Next Interiors).
Bright yellow can be an acquired taste. Try a hue like Babouche by Farrow & Ball which has the brand’s characteristic flatness without losing its vibrancy. Team it with Pavilion on woodwork as a refreshing change from white gloss (€44 per 2.5ltr from Pat McDonnell Paints and Boulevard Interiors).
Left: Fleshy pink wall paint is teamed with a novel grey ceiling and floor colour. The addition of blond wood bar stools and colour blocking in black creates a fresh and sophisticated hot-meets-cool finish (Dulux paints approx. €26 per 2.5ltr at B&Q). Right: Grey and duck-egg paint colours hold their place in the decorating fashion stakes. Colortrend’s Historic Icehouse (€64.95 per 5ltr) and Historic Parsons Stone (€24.95 per 1ltr) are a subtle take (from Colortrend Centres nationwide and Paintwell).
Toile patterned tea-towels in pink, red and blue bring a touch of colour to kitchen surroundings (€13 for three at M&S).
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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DIY
DIY
NEW WORLD COMING TO YOUR HOME
DIYTIPS
How to make a Cardboard Clock WHAT YOU NEED: ■ The bottom section of a shoebox ■ A sheet of cardboard or alternative ‘face' ■ A clock mechanism. If you don’t want to gut a clock, try ebay.ie for a cheap, battery-fed Quartz mechanism with detachable hands ■ A craft knife and cutting surface ■ Craft glue ■ A compass to mark the face ■ A pencil to trace out your design
Electronic and environmental changes are set to transform ours homes in the future, Kya deLongchamps reports
C
AN you imagine how anyone in 1962 would have reacted if you told them that in 2012 we would happily fish out the biodegradable and recyclable waste from our rubbish and stuff our walls with sheep’s wool? It would have seemed the hippy ravings brought on by inhaling too much flower power. Still, in 50 years time, (the year in which the cartoon Jetsons are actually set), our homes are likely to be all but unrecognisable. Here’s just a teasing glimpse of that new world to come.
ULTIMATE RECYCLING Those of a more sensitive emotional nature might want to put down their cereal spoons, right about — now. In 2062, good drinking water is likely to be a relatively expensive resource. You’ll think nothing of strolling off to the bathroom to stand over your own filtering/squatting toilet with a handy grip handle to take a good aim. The waste is a valuable household commodity and will be conducted with just 1 litre of flushing water to a methane producing ‘digester’. Added to other degradable rubbish and effluent, your contribution will help power lights and appliances, and cool water to chill the must-have alterative fridge — a Biolarder, chock full of fresh and potted vegetables and fruit. That very loo, derived from Sulabh Foundation in India, has been taken from the drawing board by Philips Design, and included in their fascinating Microbal Home Probe Project. The Probe is a curiously stark but lovely interior with a symbiotic life of its own. If you need an exciting incentive for performing demi-pliats in the bathroom, Philip’s scientists point out that squatting is physically better for the hind end of a human being, with far less colon cancers in countries where a standing posture is the norm. We have already started filtering, processing and recycling waste at home in our composters and brown bins — why not? DECORATING WITH BEES AND BACTERIA Among the prettier ingredients in the Probe home is the Urban Beehive, a mesmerising golden glass enclosure with an entry way pierced through an outside wall. Bees produce honey right in our kitchens where it’s siphoned off by tap from a stacked sculpture of
14
glistening combs. Ambient lighting in the Probe room is produced by bioluminescent bacteria or proteins, feasting on methane and composted waste drawn down from the home digester, and enclosed in a curtain of organically styled glass bubbles. The Philips Probe project shows just how far we may boldly go in years to come, with a pared back interior landscape of working pieces that are not only mesmeric to look at but perform a daily devotion to our well being. If you can stand to look our potential future square in the eye examine the entire workings of this revolutionary thinking at Philip’s design website www.design.philips.com. THE CONNECTED HOME The information age that we’ve enjoyed in our home PCs, the Internet and through the wonders of the super mobile telephone, will drive other changes. Tomorrow’s house will only be passive in the sense of requiring very little heating. Far from a pile of bricks just enclosing furniture, your house will be completely, electronically ‘connected’ awakening as a domestic network — a sort of huge personal computer controlled by you. This network will be an exaggeration of the wireless technology currently allowing our phones, television and PCs to chat and exchange entertainment content. Have you already emailed or texted a picture straight to a digital photo-frame overseas? The steady hum of home automation can extend easily to turning appliances on or off, tuning the heating, dimming lights by night, and checking our security from where ever we are. What’s already available in the multi-million euro houses will trickle down to us mere mortals over time as the technology becomes affordable. By 2062, your house is quite likely to be a bit opinionated, honing your behaviour around the house to answer new standards in sustainable living. Independent thought from smart circuitiery has to be paid for, but given the perfection of photovoltaic systems you can sell some home grown power back to Electricity Ireland to pay for it all. Norwegian company EnSol AS has already created a unique patented transparent film which can be coated onto window glass so that windows in buildings act as power generators. It’s likely to be available as early as 2016.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
Cyclical, minimal and some might argue a domestic work of environmental art, The Microbal Home from Philips Design, including the bio-digester island, living larder, urban beehive, paternoster upcycler and bio-lighting.
The Urban Beehive: Creating a bridge to the wider environment this mesmeric Urban Beehive is attached to an outside wall, the honey right on tap in the kitchen. Philips Probe Microbal Home Project.
WIRELESS HOUSEKEEPING FROM THE CES The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held in Las Vegas, Nevada in January every year. It’s geek-central and a mustsee not only for electronic buffs but increasingly important for anyone keen to explore cutting edge home automation. The Americans are as fascinated by convenience as ecological concerns and the first thing that interests many people is losing wiring that entangles much of our homes.
Fulton Innovations, from Michigan, caused real excitement with their eCoupled Wireless technology at the CES 2011. Ordinary surfaces around the house, from kitchen counters to living room tables, become instant power sources that can heat food through cool-to-touch induction coils, or charge or run any appliance laid down on them. With ‘Smart’ cabinets using eCoupled packaging, food is scanned as it goes into storage, recording its potential for family menus, its level of fullness and its ‘use-by’ date. Expect to
Draw out a template for the front of your clock. It will be fixed to the shoebox base for support, also giving it depth. Ensuring it’s square (or not if you want funky), cut out the design with your knife. Mark the centre of the dial and mark a hole position to take the spindle of the hands. Glue your clock face to the supporting shoebox. Make a hole for the hands. Attach the clock mechanism to the inside of the box. Reattach the hands and mechanism together on the clock front. Decorate or leave as simple brown cardboard.
■ Go Further: Use the front cover of an attractive but redundant hard cover book as your clock face. Hang your volume on the wall.
Top: A glass, charging surface designed by Joel Berman using eCoupled technology from Fulton Innovations. Surfaces all over the house will soon serve as power points for wirelessly powering everything from a blender to a laptop computer. www.ecoupled.com Left: A blender that can run without wires sits on an eCoupled surface. Cooking on these surfaces can include induction coils that are cold to touch, making them super safe. Technology by Fulton Innovations. www.ecoupled.com
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Q&A
Do you have a DIY question you would like answered? Send it to interiors@examiner.ie
Q. I am hoping to get my living room re-painted this spring. Is grey still a popular colour and what can I do to co-ordinate it perfectly with my existing suite? This Paternoster waste up-cycler utilises the properties of fungi that have powerful enzymes and decomposing power right in our kitchens. A mycelium attached during production to plastics we use in packaging, would decompose and metabolise them in this elegant wrecking machine. Philips Design Probe Microbal Home Project.
be ticked off by text if an open packet of sultanas is about to turn to pebbles. www.ecoupled.com. Some intelligent appliances such as LG fridges have already started this sort of electronic housekeeping with polite suggestions of menu plans from the ingredients you tell it is inside its cavity. www.lg.co.uk. CONTROL OR CONTROLLED? Remember the talking BMWs, who got their fan belts in a twist if you held the door open too long or didn’t instantly
seize the seatbelt? That hectoring Fräulein was quietly withdrawn. I’m locked in combat with my Whirlpool ‘hydro-sensor’ dryer, a mere blip of fuzzy logic by the standards of 2062. It punishes me with damp undergarments if I try a quick toss and don’t fill her to regulatory watt respectful loads of 5kg. Will a computerised dictate of the Irish Government some day trill up through my lint-collector — “Citizen! Your knickers are dried according to EPA standards, remove them immediately”.
A. The right grey is a restful, versatile colour. According to Crown paint colourists in discussion with the highly read Trend Bible (www.trendbible.co.uk) it remains an underpinning for intense colour choices even this year’s searing acid brights. Paint up a large piece of lining paper or card and place it around the room to ensure a good marriage. Don’t trust a fleck of paint on a card. Q. I have a very small budget to update my master bathroom and improve the storage. It’s a biggish room but a bit stark. What would be on trend for a ‘look’ this year.
A. A blend of sophisticated bathroom ware with natural finishes for doors and supports in storage pieces, wood above all else continues into 2012. Honest materials soften that clinical edge. Repurpose free-standing wood storage (sand, stain and seal), leave the ware alone and look for well engineered taps to be on trend for water savings. Q. I would like to invest in some Irish furniture, really up-to-the-minute new work. Where do I start to find the right person? A. Online you can look through the designers featured at The Irish Furniture Designers Network www.irishdesigners.com. You can find a craftsperson and their work at The Crafts Council of Ireland. www.ccoi.ie and finally I would encourage you to attend all the arts and crafts shows available. You may find the next talented maker at a graduation show.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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DIY
DIY
NEW WORLD COMING TO YOUR HOME
DIYTIPS
How to make a Cardboard Clock WHAT YOU NEED: ■ The bottom section of a shoebox ■ A sheet of cardboard or alternative ‘face' ■ A clock mechanism. If you don’t want to gut a clock, try ebay.ie for a cheap, battery-fed Quartz mechanism with detachable hands ■ A craft knife and cutting surface ■ Craft glue ■ A compass to mark the face ■ A pencil to trace out your design
Electronic and environmental changes are set to transform ours homes in the future, Kya deLongchamps reports
C
AN you imagine how anyone in 1962 would have reacted if you told them that in 2012 we would happily fish out the biodegradable and recyclable waste from our rubbish and stuff our walls with sheep’s wool? It would have seemed the hippy ravings brought on by inhaling too much flower power. Still, in 50 years time, (the year in which the cartoon Jetsons are actually set), our homes are likely to be all but unrecognisable. Here’s just a teasing glimpse of that new world to come.
ULTIMATE RECYCLING Those of a more sensitive emotional nature might want to put down their cereal spoons, right about — now. In 2062, good drinking water is likely to be a relatively expensive resource. You’ll think nothing of strolling off to the bathroom to stand over your own filtering/squatting toilet with a handy grip handle to take a good aim. The waste is a valuable household commodity and will be conducted with just 1 litre of flushing water to a methane producing ‘digester’. Added to other degradable rubbish and effluent, your contribution will help power lights and appliances, and cool water to chill the must-have alterative fridge — a Biolarder, chock full of fresh and potted vegetables and fruit. That very loo, derived from Sulabh Foundation in India, has been taken from the drawing board by Philips Design, and included in their fascinating Microbal Home Probe Project. The Probe is a curiously stark but lovely interior with a symbiotic life of its own. If you need an exciting incentive for performing demi-pliats in the bathroom, Philip’s scientists point out that squatting is physically better for the hind end of a human being, with far less colon cancers in countries where a standing posture is the norm. We have already started filtering, processing and recycling waste at home in our composters and brown bins — why not? DECORATING WITH BEES AND BACTERIA Among the prettier ingredients in the Probe home is the Urban Beehive, a mesmerising golden glass enclosure with an entry way pierced through an outside wall. Bees produce honey right in our kitchens where it’s siphoned off by tap from a stacked sculpture of
14
glistening combs. Ambient lighting in the Probe room is produced by bioluminescent bacteria or proteins, feasting on methane and composted waste drawn down from the home digester, and enclosed in a curtain of organically styled glass bubbles. The Philips Probe project shows just how far we may boldly go in years to come, with a pared back interior landscape of working pieces that are not only mesmeric to look at but perform a daily devotion to our well being. If you can stand to look our potential future square in the eye examine the entire workings of this revolutionary thinking at Philip’s design website www.design.philips.com. THE CONNECTED HOME The information age that we’ve enjoyed in our home PCs, the Internet and through the wonders of the super mobile telephone, will drive other changes. Tomorrow’s house will only be passive in the sense of requiring very little heating. Far from a pile of bricks just enclosing furniture, your house will be completely, electronically ‘connected’ awakening as a domestic network — a sort of huge personal computer controlled by you. This network will be an exaggeration of the wireless technology currently allowing our phones, television and PCs to chat and exchange entertainment content. Have you already emailed or texted a picture straight to a digital photo-frame overseas? The steady hum of home automation can extend easily to turning appliances on or off, tuning the heating, dimming lights by night, and checking our security from where ever we are. What’s already available in the multi-million euro houses will trickle down to us mere mortals over time as the technology becomes affordable. By 2062, your house is quite likely to be a bit opinionated, honing your behaviour around the house to answer new standards in sustainable living. Independent thought from smart circuitiery has to be paid for, but given the perfection of photovoltaic systems you can sell some home grown power back to Electricity Ireland to pay for it all. Norwegian company EnSol AS has already created a unique patented transparent film which can be coated onto window glass so that windows in buildings act as power generators. It’s likely to be available as early as 2016.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
Cyclical, minimal and some might argue a domestic work of environmental art, The Microbal Home from Philips Design, including the bio-digester island, living larder, urban beehive, paternoster upcycler and bio-lighting.
The Urban Beehive: Creating a bridge to the wider environment this mesmeric Urban Beehive is attached to an outside wall, the honey right on tap in the kitchen. Philips Probe Microbal Home Project.
WIRELESS HOUSEKEEPING FROM THE CES The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held in Las Vegas, Nevada in January every year. It’s geek-central and a mustsee not only for electronic buffs but increasingly important for anyone keen to explore cutting edge home automation. The Americans are as fascinated by convenience as ecological concerns and the first thing that interests many people is losing wiring that entangles much of our homes.
Fulton Innovations, from Michigan, caused real excitement with their eCoupled Wireless technology at the CES 2011. Ordinary surfaces around the house, from kitchen counters to living room tables, become instant power sources that can heat food through cool-to-touch induction coils, or charge or run any appliance laid down on them. With ‘Smart’ cabinets using eCoupled packaging, food is scanned as it goes into storage, recording its potential for family menus, its level of fullness and its ‘use-by’ date. Expect to
Draw out a template for the front of your clock. It will be fixed to the shoebox base for support, also giving it depth. Ensuring it’s square (or not if you want funky), cut out the design with your knife. Mark the centre of the dial and mark a hole position to take the spindle of the hands. Glue your clock face to the supporting shoebox. Make a hole for the hands. Attach the clock mechanism to the inside of the box. Reattach the hands and mechanism together on the clock front. Decorate or leave as simple brown cardboard.
■ Go Further: Use the front cover of an attractive but redundant hard cover book as your clock face. Hang your volume on the wall.
Top: A glass, charging surface designed by Joel Berman using eCoupled technology from Fulton Innovations. Surfaces all over the house will soon serve as power points for wirelessly powering everything from a blender to a laptop computer. www.ecoupled.com Left: A blender that can run without wires sits on an eCoupled surface. Cooking on these surfaces can include induction coils that are cold to touch, making them super safe. Technology by Fulton Innovations. www.ecoupled.com
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Q&A
Do you have a DIY question you would like answered? Send it to interiors@examiner.ie
Q. I am hoping to get my living room re-painted this spring. Is grey still a popular colour and what can I do to co-ordinate it perfectly with my existing suite? This Paternoster waste up-cycler utilises the properties of fungi that have powerful enzymes and decomposing power right in our kitchens. A mycelium attached during production to plastics we use in packaging, would decompose and metabolise them in this elegant wrecking machine. Philips Design Probe Microbal Home Project.
be ticked off by text if an open packet of sultanas is about to turn to pebbles. www.ecoupled.com. Some intelligent appliances such as LG fridges have already started this sort of electronic housekeeping with polite suggestions of menu plans from the ingredients you tell it is inside its cavity. www.lg.co.uk. CONTROL OR CONTROLLED? Remember the talking BMWs, who got their fan belts in a twist if you held the door open too long or didn’t instantly
seize the seatbelt? That hectoring Fräulein was quietly withdrawn. I’m locked in combat with my Whirlpool ‘hydro-sensor’ dryer, a mere blip of fuzzy logic by the standards of 2062. It punishes me with damp undergarments if I try a quick toss and don’t fill her to regulatory watt respectful loads of 5kg. Will a computerised dictate of the Irish Government some day trill up through my lint-collector — “Citizen! Your knickers are dried according to EPA standards, remove them immediately”.
A. The right grey is a restful, versatile colour. According to Crown paint colourists in discussion with the highly read Trend Bible (www.trendbible.co.uk) it remains an underpinning for intense colour choices even this year’s searing acid brights. Paint up a large piece of lining paper or card and place it around the room to ensure a good marriage. Don’t trust a fleck of paint on a card. Q. I have a very small budget to update my master bathroom and improve the storage. It’s a biggish room but a bit stark. What would be on trend for a ‘look’ this year.
A. A blend of sophisticated bathroom ware with natural finishes for doors and supports in storage pieces, wood above all else continues into 2012. Honest materials soften that clinical edge. Repurpose free-standing wood storage (sand, stain and seal), leave the ware alone and look for well engineered taps to be on trend for water savings. Q. I would like to invest in some Irish furniture, really up-to-the-minute new work. Where do I start to find the right person? A. Online you can look through the designers featured at The Irish Furniture Designers Network www.irishdesigners.com. You can find a craftsperson and their work at The Crafts Council of Ireland. www.ccoi.ie and finally I would encourage you to attend all the arts and crafts shows available. You may find the next talented maker at a graduation show.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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ASK THE
DESIGNER Q
My six-year-old apartment is starting to look a bit jaded — what are some of the key trends for 2012?
A. In the current climate, modern interior design is all about finding new comfort in old rooms. 2012 will see the rise of simple, sophisticated elegance at home. Cosy browns, creams, golds, greens and yellows are among the top colour trends for spring. Large wall mirrors, mirrored furniture and beautiful wallpaper with Swarovski crystals that reflect more light into the room will also be big. Luxurious fabrics, such as silk, velvet and wool will be contrasted against natural stone, metal and wood surfaces. In the interior design world, the trend is being known as ‘Liberation’ think genderneutral homes that are comfortable but exotic. Q. I just bought my first home, before Christmas — do you have any helpful hints for bagging a bargain on furniture in the sales? A. You can make big savings on furniture in the January sales — but like anything else, never go shopping for big ticket items on impulse. Start by making a list of the items you need and establishing a budget. Be sure that it’s a genuine sale rather than just a gimmick. With furniture you see blowout sales all the time — so watch for sample or clearance sales, instead. Familiarise yourself with the real value of the item, shop around and don’t be afraid to haggle, even if the piece is already on sale. Remember to ask about the warranty, tax and delivery charges.
Interior designer Marion Ormond of Ken Jackson Interiors, Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork City, answers your questions. Email: interiors@examiner.ie
Q. I’ve read that ‘tufted’ furniture will be big in 2012 — but what is it exactly? A. Tufting is when the upholstery on a piece of furniture is threaded and secured with a knot or button — creating dense clusters in the fabric. In the old days, it was used to secure cushions to the seat and back of chairs, but, nowadays, is more ornamental. Tufting has been making a comeback in recent years, but I predict it will be huge in 2012. Although a vintage technique, it looks great on modern pieces — watch for tufted headboards, sofas and arm chairs. Some advantages are that it’s comfortable and adds drama to textiles, like leather, by casting shadows. However, deep tufting can be a little trickier to clean than plain upholstery. Q. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more punctual — but how many clocks is too many to have in my home? A. Between TVs, microwaves, mobile phones and computers, we’re surrounded by devices that tell the time – yet still run late! Most homes have a wall clock in the kitchen, wall or mantle clock in the living room, table clock or even grandfather clock in the hallway and alarm clock in each bedroom. But to help keep your New Year’s resolution, you might want to consider a bathroom clock too. You don’t need a clock in every room — just close enough to take a quick glance at. Before choosing a clock, remember to consider the size and décor of the room.
WEB WATCH 1
Provenance Interiors
In this site, click on the icon to view the brochure of this store. For a rustic French look, check out the bookcases in wax-colour finishes, which come in a range of 12 colours. The site features cabinets harking back to a country-style kitchen, side boards perfect for your inherited crockery, or kitchen centres to bring contemporary style to your home. It has a selection of bars to add some character to a room used for entertaining. Bathroom and bedroom furniture also feature, rounding out a European look to your home. ■ www.provenanceinteriors.ie
16
XP1 - V1
2
�� �� ��� ��� ��� ������ ����������
Every week Sue O’Connor picks her top three interiors sites. If you have a favourite you’d like to see featured, email: interiors@examiner.ie
Aoki Interiors
3
Jennifer Slattery textiles
I have been waiting for this site to open for business before featuring it on these pages. It was worth the wait. Jam-packed with products and easy to navigate, this site is home to an interior design service, but also stocks fabulous items for the home. Each element in pictures is detailed with just a click, offering information in a simple-to-find format. It has a section on projects that provides advice, tips, and before-and-after pictures for those looking for advice on similar ventures in their own home.
For a talking point around the dinner table, these linens are just the trick. Guests at a dinner party may have to do a double take for their cutlery with this illusion, as illustrated on the right. This designer features digital-printed imagery and embroidery on tableware, cushions and throws. Her ‘Tea Party’ table runner received first prize in the digital print category at the RDS National Craft Competition. Glorious cushions are made from wool, tweed and silk, while the luxurious throws are works of art.
■ www.aokiinteriors.ie
■ www.jenniferslatterytextiles.com
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
������ � ��������
Left and top: tufted headboards; above a Fjord chair €839 from Marks & Spencer; left interior design trends for 2012.
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�������������� Pass the fork: Linen from Jennifer Slattery Textiles.
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17
TERAPROOF:User:NOELCAMPIONDate:05/01/2012Time:13:22:40Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:16
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V1
ASK THE
DESIGNER Q
My six-year-old apartment is starting to look a bit jaded — what are some of the key trends for 2012?
A. In the current climate, modern interior design is all about finding new comfort in old rooms. 2012 will see the rise of simple, sophisticated elegance at home. Cosy browns, creams, golds, greens and yellows are among the top colour trends for spring. Large wall mirrors, mirrored furniture and beautiful wallpaper with Swarovski crystals that reflect more light into the room will also be big. Luxurious fabrics, such as silk, velvet and wool will be contrasted against natural stone, metal and wood surfaces. In the interior design world, the trend is being known as ‘Liberation’ think genderneutral homes that are comfortable but exotic. Q. I just bought my first home, before Christmas — do you have any helpful hints for bagging a bargain on furniture in the sales? A. You can make big savings on furniture in the January sales — but like anything else, never go shopping for big ticket items on impulse. Start by making a list of the items you need and establishing a budget. Be sure that it’s a genuine sale rather than just a gimmick. With furniture you see blowout sales all the time — so watch for sample or clearance sales, instead. Familiarise yourself with the real value of the item, shop around and don’t be afraid to haggle, even if the piece is already on sale. Remember to ask about the warranty, tax and delivery charges.
Interior designer Marion Ormond of Ken Jackson Interiors, Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork City, answers your questions. Email: interiors@examiner.ie
Q. I’ve read that ‘tufted’ furniture will be big in 2012 — but what is it exactly? A. Tufting is when the upholstery on a piece of furniture is threaded and secured with a knot or button — creating dense clusters in the fabric. In the old days, it was used to secure cushions to the seat and back of chairs, but, nowadays, is more ornamental. Tufting has been making a comeback in recent years, but I predict it will be huge in 2012. Although a vintage technique, it looks great on modern pieces — watch for tufted headboards, sofas and arm chairs. Some advantages are that it’s comfortable and adds drama to textiles, like leather, by casting shadows. However, deep tufting can be a little trickier to clean than plain upholstery. Q. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more punctual — but how many clocks is too many to have in my home? A. Between TVs, microwaves, mobile phones and computers, we’re surrounded by devices that tell the time – yet still run late! Most homes have a wall clock in the kitchen, wall or mantle clock in the living room, table clock or even grandfather clock in the hallway and alarm clock in each bedroom. But to help keep your New Year’s resolution, you might want to consider a bathroom clock too. You don’t need a clock in every room — just close enough to take a quick glance at. Before choosing a clock, remember to consider the size and décor of the room.
WEB WATCH 1
Provenance Interiors
In this site, click on the icon to view the brochure of this store. For a rustic French look, check out the bookcases in wax-colour finishes, which come in a range of 12 colours. The site features cabinets harking back to a country-style kitchen, side boards perfect for your inherited crockery, or kitchen centres to bring contemporary style to your home. It has a selection of bars to add some character to a room used for entertaining. Bathroom and bedroom furniture also feature, rounding out a European look to your home. ■ www.provenanceinteriors.ie
16
XP1 - V1
2
�� �� ��� ��� ��� ������ ����������
Every week Sue O’Connor picks her top three interiors sites. If you have a favourite you’d like to see featured, email: interiors@examiner.ie
Aoki Interiors
3
Jennifer Slattery textiles
I have been waiting for this site to open for business before featuring it on these pages. It was worth the wait. Jam-packed with products and easy to navigate, this site is home to an interior design service, but also stocks fabulous items for the home. Each element in pictures is detailed with just a click, offering information in a simple-to-find format. It has a section on projects that provides advice, tips, and before-and-after pictures for those looking for advice on similar ventures in their own home.
For a talking point around the dinner table, these linens are just the trick. Guests at a dinner party may have to do a double take for their cutlery with this illusion, as illustrated on the right. This designer features digital-printed imagery and embroidery on tableware, cushions and throws. Her ‘Tea Party’ table runner received first prize in the digital print category at the RDS National Craft Competition. Glorious cushions are made from wool, tweed and silk, while the luxurious throws are works of art.
■ www.aokiinteriors.ie
■ www.jenniferslatterytextiles.com
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
������ � ��������
Left and top: tufted headboards; above a Fjord chair €839 from Marks & Spencer; left interior design trends for 2012.
��� � ���� �������� ���� ����
���� ��� ���
�������������� Pass the fork: Linen from Jennifer Slattery Textiles.
����� ���� �����
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WISH LIST
XP1 - V2
Gather up your vouchers and Christmas money gifts and head for the sales to indulge your New Year’s wish list says Carol O’Callaghan
Graphic prints are a popular feature on cushion fabric like Wolfgang in the Woods (from Garrendenny Lane Interiors, €59.99).
A low-hanging piece of contemporary lighting looks fabulous above the dining table (Cocoon light from M&S, €149).
Help the New Year’s resolution to shift those pounds and start grilling (24” cast iron grill pan from Heatons, €25). Yukari Sweeney’s Time for Tea pot has cleverly integrated two cups which double up as a lid and make storage easy (€27).
For a very contemporary take on traditional kitchen tins, check out Ben de Lisi’s latest designs (from €10).
Check out the funky Fanny Geante lamp, a statement-piece accessory for a contemporary interior (from Objekt €185).
The toast rack harks back to the days before we breakfasted on the run. This one from Debenhams is a cute take on an old favourite (€10).
Howard Keith swivel chair high quality furniture retailed by Heals and Harrods in the 1970s reduced from €450 to €250 on www.originalcompulsivedesign.blogspot.com.
After a glut of turkey and ham, a lovely Moroccan lamb and cous-cous tagine is a refreshing change (from Argos €27.99).
Make the onion chopping a little easier with a mezzaluna chopper and board (from the Jamie Oliver Collection at Debenhams, €33).
The 1930s anglepoise floor-lamp design is given a contemporary touch with a purple finish (€149 at Aoki Interiors). Contemporary finish meets retro structure in the Milton media unit from M&S (approx €399).
18
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
A sturdy ceramic bowl is perfect for whipping up cream for mince pies or preparing gravy to accompany the turkey (blue pouring bowl from Argos €13.99).
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:05/01/2012Time:13:14:47Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:18
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V2
WISH LIST
XP1 - V2
Gather up your vouchers and Christmas money gifts and head for the sales to indulge your New Year’s wish list says Carol O’Callaghan
Graphic prints are a popular feature on cushion fabric like Wolfgang in the Woods (from Garrendenny Lane Interiors, €59.99).
A low-hanging piece of contemporary lighting looks fabulous above the dining table (Cocoon light from M&S, €149).
Help the New Year’s resolution to shift those pounds and start grilling (24” cast iron grill pan from Heatons, €25). Yukari Sweeney’s Time for Tea pot has cleverly integrated two cups which double up as a lid and make storage easy (€27).
For a very contemporary take on traditional kitchen tins, check out Ben de Lisi’s latest designs (from €10).
Check out the funky Fanny Geante lamp, a statement-piece accessory for a contemporary interior (from Objekt €185).
The toast rack harks back to the days before we breakfasted on the run. This one from Debenhams is a cute take on an old favourite (€10).
Howard Keith swivel chair high quality furniture retailed by Heals and Harrods in the 1970s reduced from €450 to €250 on www.originalcompulsivedesign.blogspot.com.
After a glut of turkey and ham, a lovely Moroccan lamb and cous-cous tagine is a refreshing change (from Argos €27.99).
Make the onion chopping a little easier with a mezzaluna chopper and board (from the Jamie Oliver Collection at Debenhams, €33).
The 1930s anglepoise floor-lamp design is given a contemporary touch with a purple finish (€149 at Aoki Interiors). Contemporary finish meets retro structure in the Milton media unit from M&S (approx €399).
18
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
A sturdy ceramic bowl is perfect for whipping up cream for mince pies or preparing gravy to accompany the turkey (blue pouring bowl from Argos €13.99).
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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IN THE GARDEN
Winter gardens in the making
Good enough to eat... Brussels sprouts
Andrew Farrelly, head gardener at Ballintubbert, Co Laois, gives top tips for the new year garden
Hannah Stephenson consigns the image of soggy sprouts to the past and says these cancer-busting veggies are very easy to grow
M
T
ANY people see winter as a time to ignore their garden, but there are plenty of things you can be doing through the winter months to ensure that you continue to enjoy the pleasures of gardening all year round and that you’re ready for the year ahead.
1 2 3 4 5
Make leaf mould: Rake and bag or stack fallen leaves then wait at least 18 months until you have black, crumbly soil. Keep it separate from your compost heap as it’s slow to break down. Leaf mould makes superb mulch for weed suppression and water conservation. Cut back any frost-damaged perennials to soil level and compost the leaves. Take this opportunity to lift and divide congested clumps of plants, dig out perennial weeds and mulch well for winter. Rake up twigs and fallen leaves, leave some seed heads, woody material (fennel) for the birds and insects. Many seed heads look beautiful in frost and snow, so don’t be too thorough in your cutting at this stage. While the garden’s quiet, construct fences, paths and raised beds. Repair damaged woodwork and paint where possible. Harvest your kale, leeks, cabbages and Brussels sprouts. Turn over ground on dry days when the soil is not waterlogged or frozen. Turn your compost heap to let fresh air in, which will help turn your waste to compost. Cover with cardboard, newspapers or old carpet to keep the heat in.
WORK FOR THE WEEK
W
INTER: It was warm enough one afternoon last week for a stroll around the garden, and in one of my favourite stopping places I watched a cloud of midges, out of their winter sleep, dancing in the still, sunlit air. On a west-facing ivy-clad wall, large pregnant blue-bottles were sunning themselves on the variegated leaves, having supped on the dark juicy berries. Is this where these dipterous creatures overwinter? It makes me wonder. The small, round, unfamiliar sun, flat as a sovereign thrown on a grey silk tablecloth, shone from a denim-blue sky and in a moment of relaxation I could have sworn it was April. Nearby, a shoot of fuchsia, a scrap of campanula and a late rose bloomed. Things are still growing, while underground the activity is reaching hectic proportions. Winter is indeed a contemplative season full of mystery and silent growth, but that dramatic (if
20
6 7 8
Choose a dry day to tackle that south-facing wall, prune out old wood and tie in new shoots, repair or renew trellis and support wires. On the cold and wet days, clear out your potting shed and greenhouse, clean pots and sterilise sowing trays, sit back with your seed catalogues to plan for the exciting new year in your garden. Take time to assess your garden for further winter planting, find space for carex, dogwood and other winter features — much can be done with appropriate planting to make your winter garden more interesting and colourful.
CAMELLIAS: The most joyous flowering of the next few months will be from camellias, and already the blush pink and shell white blooms of a pot-grown Sasanqua ‘Lucinda’ are giving a welcome mid-winter lift. To think that two years ago this was almost ‘thrown at me’ at a well-known garden centre (because it was such a slow seller) beggars belief. In another few days the very lovely single red Sasanqua Camellia ‘Yuletide’ will be in full bloom, also adding to the general post-Christmas garden scene.
If these are not available locally or indeed within your county do remember that these Sasanqua forms can be ordered from Britain through ‘The Plant Finder’. Just Google ‘plant finder’ into your computer and follow the drop- down menu, The plants will be sent to your home via parcel post. There are no restrictions (or extra payments to be made) on imported plants ordered from member states of the EU. The only drawback to all this is the rather high exchange rate for sterling. STAKES AND SUPPORTS: Remove all temporary plant supports such as those used for runner beans and sweet pea. This is the last call for storing these from damaging weather. Clean them before storing somewhere dry. Link Stakes, those green, plastic-coated plant supports, need no attention apart from a quick rub down to remove dirt. Bamboo canes can be dipped in preservative and brought under cover.
■ It has been said you have to be careful what you admire on a garden visit for the owner may dig up a piece for you more quickly than you can write down its name. At least that has been my experience, and it could be yours if you join a gardening club or society this month of January. There are numerous gardening societies and clubs dedicated to nurturing and promoting gardening, and all are keen to share their knowledge and love of garden plants with you — if you let them. Each week, this column contains a long list of club meetings (shorter this week due to seasonal festivities) and all invite new members to join. Apart from the huge number of flower arranging clubs scattered through every county there’s the Cork Garden Club, the Irish Garden Plant Society and the Alpine/Hardy Plant Society who cater for male and female growers of plants and vegetables, and new members are always welcome. Meeting times and places are set out here, weekly, so see what’s on in your area and come along for a single night if only to see how the proceedings go. You may find yourself making new friends, learning about desirable plants and visiting gardens not generally open to the public.
■ Clonakilty Flower Club welcomes everyone to their meeting this Monday in the Fernhill House Hotel at 8pm. Mary, from An Tobairín in Bandon, will give a talk on health food.
by Charlie Wilkins CONIFERS: A prolonged spell of biting east winds can desiccate the foliage of all plants but in particular young conifers, after which they die. Thousands die under such conditions every year. Normally, these winds arrive in late January and on into spring but it would be good husbandry, if not common sense, to protect newlyplanted stock long before then. A screen of clear polythene, or better still a length of Mypex fixed to a ring of canes around each specimen, will prevent this kind of damage. The same principle can be used to protect new evergreen hedges. Mypex is sold at garden centres, where it is used extensively to shelter and protect young plants in open beds from drying winds and extreme cold. Let’s hope the exercise will prove pointless (it may, after all, continue to be a mild winter and spring) but don’t want to run the risk of squandering a season (or good plants) for the sake of a modicum of work.
IN THE GARDEN
GARDENNOTES
■ Cork Garden Club, Ashton School, Blackrock Road will hold their first meeting of the spring season on Thursday next at 8pm. Following the AGM, a talk on sundials will be given by Cormac Lalor and all are welcome to attend.
■ The garden in Ballintubbert in Co Laois has been restored over the past 10 years and was opened to the public last year. It was originally home to poet C Day Lewis (father of Daniel Day Lewis and poet laureate) who was born in the house in 1904 and the actors John Hurt and Sebastian Shaw. The settlement at Ballintubbert dates back to 1540 with the new garden having 14 acres of landscape arranged around a Georgian House. ■ www.ballintubbert.com
fleeting) change from the bleakness of the ground and the emptiness of the trees to one of great expectations raised my hopes and inner spirits. Like all gardeners, I tire of tasting the endless grey skies and barren soil. However, the equinox has now passed and I rejoice in the knowledge that light and warmth will soon be filling more and more of each passing day. My enthusiasm rekindled, I moved inside.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
HE old image of overcooked sprouts with Christmas dinner has long since been usurped by their healthy-eating, cancer-busting properties and delicious flavour when cooked al dente with crispy lardons or chestnuts. They’re also really easy to grow. Sow the seeds indoors in February or March for early types and in an outdoor seedbed in April for later cropping varieties. The seedlings need to be transplanted into very firm soil in holes made with a dibber, then firmed in with your heel. Space them 60cm (2ft) apart in small gardens, or slightly further apart on larger plots and water them in well. Support the plants with stakes, water them in dry spells and feed them with general purpose fertiliser in early August. You can start picking them when they are large enough to use and if you want a big batch over Christmas, pull up a whole plant. Good varieties include ‘Trafalgar’ and ‘Falstaff ’.
XP1 - V1
■ Bantry Flower and Garden Club will hold their first meeting of the new season this Monday in the Westlodge Hotel, Bantry, beginning at 8pm. All members are requested to attend as the evening will include the AGM. Following this a talk on gardening will be given by Mike O’Donovan. Admission for non-members is €7 and everyone is welcome. ■ The horticultural experts at Griffins Garden Centre in Dripsey, Co Cork, will be giving talks on getting your garden ready for spring, followed by a gourmet lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week at 12 noon. Full details from 7334286. ■ Kinsale Flower and Garden Club will host Noel Power to speak on beekeeping and honey flora at their meeting this Thursday, January 12, in St Multose Hall at 8pm. New members and visitors are very welcome.
The winter jasmine: It grows, totally neglected, up against a cold, shady wall facing into the east light with a determination that equals the biting winds.
Jasmine’s not just for winter
E
VEN on the coldest days of winter there is always something in the garden that will lift the spirits. With no weeding, staking, pricking out, or watering to be done, we can all take time to really look at whatever plucky plants are flowering. Here, behind the bungalow I can see a few miniature posies of Viburnum, delicate hardy cyclamen and, most captivating of all, an early Lenten rose. But today my eyes peep further into the gloom and settle in a nearby garden where a specimen of winter Jasmine has me drooling. It grows, totally neglected, up against a cold, shady wall facing into the east light with a determination that equals the biting winds that blow in from that quarter. Here’s a shrub of perfectly mounded proportions which every winter plot should boast for it covers itself in summer with small green leaves and at this time of year, masses of star-shaped butter yellow blooms. I grew it to perfection once, but why, oh why did I ever tear it out? Was it because of familiarity? It’s hard to understand now how a cheap, easily sourced, and totally obliging reliable plant could be rooted out and forgotten. I may today be the only garden writer in the country without a
by Charlie Wilkins
specimen of Jasmine nudiflorum but even given my omission, why don’t I see it more often? In another six weeks or so every square yard of what passes for a garden will have foaming Forsythia to boast of, but from November to March not a jasmine, bar my neighbours, do I see. I used to love the way it spilled and arched forward from its planting station in the carport, how it rooted of its own accord if allowed tip the soil, and how it bloomed from autumn right through to spring. During winter, the slightest rise in temperature would tempt its red-tinted buds to open to whatever insects were out on the wing. And they were produced in such numbers that when a hard frost put an end to the display a new crop was always ready. The one attribute this plant loses out on is perfume. A blade of grass, a snowflake, an autumn leaf has more scent than nudiflorum, but even so, do not despise the ordinariness of this winter wonder. It is a dependable standby, an easy-to-please, growanywhere climber of modest drooping nature. Use it as a tightly clipped feature around your porch or allow it cascade as a golden waterfall in whichever part of the garden you choose. Use it in formal fashion (up the walls and around the windows of houses) if you so desire, or grow it
in a sprawling tangle like I did. Either way, it is beautiful and needs absolutely nothing. No special diet, no sprays, not even sunshine. For all that, it needs one little bit of important cultural attention. When the long, whippy growths of this most obliging plant have finished blooming in March it should be cut
back really hard so that fresh shoots are immediately encouraged. These will be the ones to carry the blooms the following winter and spring. As you reduce its bulk, look for shoots, which have layered into the ground. Give a few to friends, then, the chances are I’ll see a lot more of it as I travel around.
JANUARY SALE
50% OFF all clearance items
Open 7 days at Carrigrohane Road, Cork. Any enquiries please call 021 -4933433 IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
21
TERAPROOF:User:NOELCAMPIONDate:05/01/2012Time:13:21:58Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:20
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V1
IN THE GARDEN
Winter gardens in the making
Good enough to eat... Brussels sprouts
Andrew Farrelly, head gardener at Ballintubbert, Co Laois, gives top tips for the new year garden
Hannah Stephenson consigns the image of soggy sprouts to the past and says these cancer-busting veggies are very easy to grow
M
T
ANY people see winter as a time to ignore their garden, but there are plenty of things you can be doing through the winter months to ensure that you continue to enjoy the pleasures of gardening all year round and that you’re ready for the year ahead.
1 2 3 4 5
Make leaf mould: Rake and bag or stack fallen leaves then wait at least 18 months until you have black, crumbly soil. Keep it separate from your compost heap as it’s slow to break down. Leaf mould makes superb mulch for weed suppression and water conservation. Cut back any frost-damaged perennials to soil level and compost the leaves. Take this opportunity to lift and divide congested clumps of plants, dig out perennial weeds and mulch well for winter. Rake up twigs and fallen leaves, leave some seed heads, woody material (fennel) for the birds and insects. Many seed heads look beautiful in frost and snow, so don’t be too thorough in your cutting at this stage. While the garden’s quiet, construct fences, paths and raised beds. Repair damaged woodwork and paint where possible. Harvest your kale, leeks, cabbages and Brussels sprouts. Turn over ground on dry days when the soil is not waterlogged or frozen. Turn your compost heap to let fresh air in, which will help turn your waste to compost. Cover with cardboard, newspapers or old carpet to keep the heat in.
WORK FOR THE WEEK
W
INTER: It was warm enough one afternoon last week for a stroll around the garden, and in one of my favourite stopping places I watched a cloud of midges, out of their winter sleep, dancing in the still, sunlit air. On a west-facing ivy-clad wall, large pregnant blue-bottles were sunning themselves on the variegated leaves, having supped on the dark juicy berries. Is this where these dipterous creatures overwinter? It makes me wonder. The small, round, unfamiliar sun, flat as a sovereign thrown on a grey silk tablecloth, shone from a denim-blue sky and in a moment of relaxation I could have sworn it was April. Nearby, a shoot of fuchsia, a scrap of campanula and a late rose bloomed. Things are still growing, while underground the activity is reaching hectic proportions. Winter is indeed a contemplative season full of mystery and silent growth, but that dramatic (if
20
6 7 8
Choose a dry day to tackle that south-facing wall, prune out old wood and tie in new shoots, repair or renew trellis and support wires. On the cold and wet days, clear out your potting shed and greenhouse, clean pots and sterilise sowing trays, sit back with your seed catalogues to plan for the exciting new year in your garden. Take time to assess your garden for further winter planting, find space for carex, dogwood and other winter features — much can be done with appropriate planting to make your winter garden more interesting and colourful.
CAMELLIAS: The most joyous flowering of the next few months will be from camellias, and already the blush pink and shell white blooms of a pot-grown Sasanqua ‘Lucinda’ are giving a welcome mid-winter lift. To think that two years ago this was almost ‘thrown at me’ at a well-known garden centre (because it was such a slow seller) beggars belief. In another few days the very lovely single red Sasanqua Camellia ‘Yuletide’ will be in full bloom, also adding to the general post-Christmas garden scene.
If these are not available locally or indeed within your county do remember that these Sasanqua forms can be ordered from Britain through ‘The Plant Finder’. Just Google ‘plant finder’ into your computer and follow the drop- down menu, The plants will be sent to your home via parcel post. There are no restrictions (or extra payments to be made) on imported plants ordered from member states of the EU. The only drawback to all this is the rather high exchange rate for sterling. STAKES AND SUPPORTS: Remove all temporary plant supports such as those used for runner beans and sweet pea. This is the last call for storing these from damaging weather. Clean them before storing somewhere dry. Link Stakes, those green, plastic-coated plant supports, need no attention apart from a quick rub down to remove dirt. Bamboo canes can be dipped in preservative and brought under cover.
■ It has been said you have to be careful what you admire on a garden visit for the owner may dig up a piece for you more quickly than you can write down its name. At least that has been my experience, and it could be yours if you join a gardening club or society this month of January. There are numerous gardening societies and clubs dedicated to nurturing and promoting gardening, and all are keen to share their knowledge and love of garden plants with you — if you let them. Each week, this column contains a long list of club meetings (shorter this week due to seasonal festivities) and all invite new members to join. Apart from the huge number of flower arranging clubs scattered through every county there’s the Cork Garden Club, the Irish Garden Plant Society and the Alpine/Hardy Plant Society who cater for male and female growers of plants and vegetables, and new members are always welcome. Meeting times and places are set out here, weekly, so see what’s on in your area and come along for a single night if only to see how the proceedings go. You may find yourself making new friends, learning about desirable plants and visiting gardens not generally open to the public.
■ Clonakilty Flower Club welcomes everyone to their meeting this Monday in the Fernhill House Hotel at 8pm. Mary, from An Tobairín in Bandon, will give a talk on health food.
by Charlie Wilkins CONIFERS: A prolonged spell of biting east winds can desiccate the foliage of all plants but in particular young conifers, after which they die. Thousands die under such conditions every year. Normally, these winds arrive in late January and on into spring but it would be good husbandry, if not common sense, to protect newlyplanted stock long before then. A screen of clear polythene, or better still a length of Mypex fixed to a ring of canes around each specimen, will prevent this kind of damage. The same principle can be used to protect new evergreen hedges. Mypex is sold at garden centres, where it is used extensively to shelter and protect young plants in open beds from drying winds and extreme cold. Let’s hope the exercise will prove pointless (it may, after all, continue to be a mild winter and spring) but don’t want to run the risk of squandering a season (or good plants) for the sake of a modicum of work.
IN THE GARDEN
GARDENNOTES
■ Cork Garden Club, Ashton School, Blackrock Road will hold their first meeting of the spring season on Thursday next at 8pm. Following the AGM, a talk on sundials will be given by Cormac Lalor and all are welcome to attend.
■ The garden in Ballintubbert in Co Laois has been restored over the past 10 years and was opened to the public last year. It was originally home to poet C Day Lewis (father of Daniel Day Lewis and poet laureate) who was born in the house in 1904 and the actors John Hurt and Sebastian Shaw. The settlement at Ballintubbert dates back to 1540 with the new garden having 14 acres of landscape arranged around a Georgian House. ■ www.ballintubbert.com
fleeting) change from the bleakness of the ground and the emptiness of the trees to one of great expectations raised my hopes and inner spirits. Like all gardeners, I tire of tasting the endless grey skies and barren soil. However, the equinox has now passed and I rejoice in the knowledge that light and warmth will soon be filling more and more of each passing day. My enthusiasm rekindled, I moved inside.
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
HE old image of overcooked sprouts with Christmas dinner has long since been usurped by their healthy-eating, cancer-busting properties and delicious flavour when cooked al dente with crispy lardons or chestnuts. They’re also really easy to grow. Sow the seeds indoors in February or March for early types and in an outdoor seedbed in April for later cropping varieties. The seedlings need to be transplanted into very firm soil in holes made with a dibber, then firmed in with your heel. Space them 60cm (2ft) apart in small gardens, or slightly further apart on larger plots and water them in well. Support the plants with stakes, water them in dry spells and feed them with general purpose fertiliser in early August. You can start picking them when they are large enough to use and if you want a big batch over Christmas, pull up a whole plant. Good varieties include ‘Trafalgar’ and ‘Falstaff ’.
XP1 - V1
■ Bantry Flower and Garden Club will hold their first meeting of the new season this Monday in the Westlodge Hotel, Bantry, beginning at 8pm. All members are requested to attend as the evening will include the AGM. Following this a talk on gardening will be given by Mike O’Donovan. Admission for non-members is €7 and everyone is welcome. ■ The horticultural experts at Griffins Garden Centre in Dripsey, Co Cork, will be giving talks on getting your garden ready for spring, followed by a gourmet lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week at 12 noon. Full details from 7334286. ■ Kinsale Flower and Garden Club will host Noel Power to speak on beekeeping and honey flora at their meeting this Thursday, January 12, in St Multose Hall at 8pm. New members and visitors are very welcome.
The winter jasmine: It grows, totally neglected, up against a cold, shady wall facing into the east light with a determination that equals the biting winds.
Jasmine’s not just for winter
E
VEN on the coldest days of winter there is always something in the garden that will lift the spirits. With no weeding, staking, pricking out, or watering to be done, we can all take time to really look at whatever plucky plants are flowering. Here, behind the bungalow I can see a few miniature posies of Viburnum, delicate hardy cyclamen and, most captivating of all, an early Lenten rose. But today my eyes peep further into the gloom and settle in a nearby garden where a specimen of winter Jasmine has me drooling. It grows, totally neglected, up against a cold, shady wall facing into the east light with a determination that equals the biting winds that blow in from that quarter. Here’s a shrub of perfectly mounded proportions which every winter plot should boast for it covers itself in summer with small green leaves and at this time of year, masses of star-shaped butter yellow blooms. I grew it to perfection once, but why, oh why did I ever tear it out? Was it because of familiarity? It’s hard to understand now how a cheap, easily sourced, and totally obliging reliable plant could be rooted out and forgotten. I may today be the only garden writer in the country without a
by Charlie Wilkins
specimen of Jasmine nudiflorum but even given my omission, why don’t I see it more often? In another six weeks or so every square yard of what passes for a garden will have foaming Forsythia to boast of, but from November to March not a jasmine, bar my neighbours, do I see. I used to love the way it spilled and arched forward from its planting station in the carport, how it rooted of its own accord if allowed tip the soil, and how it bloomed from autumn right through to spring. During winter, the slightest rise in temperature would tempt its red-tinted buds to open to whatever insects were out on the wing. And they were produced in such numbers that when a hard frost put an end to the display a new crop was always ready. The one attribute this plant loses out on is perfume. A blade of grass, a snowflake, an autumn leaf has more scent than nudiflorum, but even so, do not despise the ordinariness of this winter wonder. It is a dependable standby, an easy-to-please, growanywhere climber of modest drooping nature. Use it as a tightly clipped feature around your porch or allow it cascade as a golden waterfall in whichever part of the garden you choose. Use it in formal fashion (up the walls and around the windows of houses) if you so desire, or grow it
in a sprawling tangle like I did. Either way, it is beautiful and needs absolutely nothing. No special diet, no sprays, not even sunshine. For all that, it needs one little bit of important cultural attention. When the long, whippy growths of this most obliging plant have finished blooming in March it should be cut
back really hard so that fresh shoots are immediately encouraged. These will be the ones to carry the blooms the following winter and spring. As you reduce its bulk, look for shoots, which have layered into the ground. Give a few to friends, then, the chances are I’ll see a lot more of it as I travel around.
JANUARY SALE
50% OFF all clearance items
Open 7 days at Carrigrohane Road, Cork. Any enquiries please call 021 -4933433 IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
21
Zone:XP1
XP1 - V1
XP1 - V1
ANTIQUES & FINE ART
ADVERTISING
Turner in the ambient light British watercolour master’s exhibition is on through January, says Des O’Sullivan
A
LIGHT in the Darkness is the title of this year’s annual Turner exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin until January 31. The gallery’s collection of Turner Watercolours are only displayed in January when the ambient light is
at its most gentle. Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), a renowned painter of the effects of light long before Impressionism, is regarded as one of the greatest masters of the British watercolour. The watercolours from the Vaughan Bequest,
which came to the gallery in 1900, feature many works painted during his European travels. Henry Vaughan was an English collector and his bequest constituted 31 watercolours. The gallery has added to the collection over the years and now holds 36 works
by Turner in pristine condition. This year the exhibition is complemented by a display of silhouettes and miniatures from the Mary A McNeill Bequest (1985), which includes works by John Comerford, Richard Crosse, Henry Bone and Nathaniel Hone the Elder.
Left: The Doge’s Palace and Piazzetta, Venice, c.1840, and above Great Yarmouth Harbour, Norfolk, c 1840, both by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) from the annual Turner exhibition now on at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Republican history in the spotlight
A
SIGNED card from Ballykinlar Camp, Co Down, dating from 1921 is one of the more unusual lots at the sale at Kerry Auction Rooms in Tralee next Tuesday at noon. During the War of Independence Ballykinlar held more than 2,000 Republican prisoners. They organised their own theatre companies, classes and craft groups in a camp which was referred to as the university. The decorative hand drawn card is signed by four prisoners on one side with a hand-drawn poem on the reverse. The sale features Victorian and Edwardian cabinets, sets of chairs, a Regency chaise longue, occasional furniture and items suitable for restoration. There is Irish and English silver as well as European art, coins, medals, books and collectibles. There are as well over 400 lots of china and pottery. Viewing is from 11am to 6pm today; from noon to 6pm tomorrow; 11am to 9pm on Monday and from 9am on Tuesday.
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IN BRIEF DONERAILE AUCTION Auctioneer Aidan Foley will have his first auction of 2012 at the Old Schoolhouse, Doneraile, Co Cork, on Saturday, January 14, at 1pm. ................................................................ ART SALE There will be an Irish art sale at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 22. The Galwaybased Dolan’s art auction house will conduct this annual sale, which is normally very popular. It features a wide variety of contemporary and young emerging Irish artists. Prices are reasonable. There will be around 250 lots on offer and most of them have no reserves. Viewing gets underway at 10am on Friday, January 20. ................................................................ ANTIQUE FAIR The opening fair of 2012 by Hibernian Antique Fairs is at the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny tomorrow. It will feature a selection of furniture, Irish art, glass, porcelain, coins, books and collectibles. ................................................................ TAYLOR SALE The sale of the Elizabeth Taylor Collections will provide a talking point for many years to come. Auctioneers Christie’s had reckoned that her jewellery would make more than $30 million (€23.35m). In fact the combined total for two sales of 269 jewels amounted to $137,235,675. Christie’s will offer Old Master paintings from the Taylor Collections in New York at the end of January and other works from her painting collections will be sold at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art sales in London next month. ................................................................
NEW YORK SHOW In New York the Winter Antiques Show, a global premier showcase for fine antiques known colloquially as the Armoury Show, takes place this year from January 20-19 at the Park Avenue Armoury at 67th St in Manhattan. ................................................................ FURNITURE DISPLAY In Dublin a new exhibition displays some of the National Museum of Ireland’s furniture collection in a series of room settings at the Museum of Decorative Arts at Collins Barracks. There is a 17th century bedroom with a rare Flemish stand-bed, oak chests and panelling, a refined Georgian dining room and the exuberant style of a 19th century music room. The music room showcases an eccentric Irish invention: the idiophone or musical glasses. The 20th century gallery looks at Irish modernism, displaying various design movements from 1900 to the present. On display are various arts and crafts pieces of furniture coming from the Kilkenny woodworker’s colony, Art Nouveau chairs purchased at the Paris exhibition of 1900, an Irish Art Deco bedroom, and the thoroughly modernist style of a 1950s living room. It also displays the work of some of Ireland’s best contemporary furniture designers; Joseph Walsh, Nest Furniture Design, John Lee, and Zelouf and Bell. A block screen inspired by Eileen Gray and created by Sasha Sykes highlights Sykes’ unique style encapsulating layers of flowers, ferns, ivy, beetles, and butterflies in acrylic.
ITEMS NOW INVITED FOR INCLUSION
26 COOK ST CORK ∙ 021-4273327 ∙ www.woodward.ie
22
IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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Interior Doors, from old to new!
Showroom: Colomane, Bantry. After Before
(approx 6miles outside Bantry, next to Willie Pa’s Rest.)
We renovate & modernise your existing: Interior Doors, Entrance Doors & Staircases
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Top: Golden Pastures at the Point of Sunset by Arthur Maderson. Left, Shell in Eyeries by Val Byrne. Right, Summer Show by Mark O’Neill. These paintings are in Dolan’s auction at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 22.
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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ANTIQUES & FINE ART
ADVERTISING
Turner in the ambient light British watercolour master’s exhibition is on through January, says Des O’Sullivan
A
LIGHT in the Darkness is the title of this year’s annual Turner exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin until January 31. The gallery’s collection of Turner Watercolours are only displayed in January when the ambient light is
at its most gentle. Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), a renowned painter of the effects of light long before Impressionism, is regarded as one of the greatest masters of the British watercolour. The watercolours from the Vaughan Bequest,
which came to the gallery in 1900, feature many works painted during his European travels. Henry Vaughan was an English collector and his bequest constituted 31 watercolours. The gallery has added to the collection over the years and now holds 36 works
by Turner in pristine condition. This year the exhibition is complemented by a display of silhouettes and miniatures from the Mary A McNeill Bequest (1985), which includes works by John Comerford, Richard Crosse, Henry Bone and Nathaniel Hone the Elder.
Left: The Doge’s Palace and Piazzetta, Venice, c.1840, and above Great Yarmouth Harbour, Norfolk, c 1840, both by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) from the annual Turner exhibition now on at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Republican history in the spotlight
A
SIGNED card from Ballykinlar Camp, Co Down, dating from 1921 is one of the more unusual lots at the sale at Kerry Auction Rooms in Tralee next Tuesday at noon. During the War of Independence Ballykinlar held more than 2,000 Republican prisoners. They organised their own theatre companies, classes and craft groups in a camp which was referred to as the university. The decorative hand drawn card is signed by four prisoners on one side with a hand-drawn poem on the reverse. The sale features Victorian and Edwardian cabinets, sets of chairs, a Regency chaise longue, occasional furniture and items suitable for restoration. There is Irish and English silver as well as European art, coins, medals, books and collectibles. There are as well over 400 lots of china and pottery. Viewing is from 11am to 6pm today; from noon to 6pm tomorrow; 11am to 9pm on Monday and from 9am on Tuesday.
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IN BRIEF DONERAILE AUCTION Auctioneer Aidan Foley will have his first auction of 2012 at the Old Schoolhouse, Doneraile, Co Cork, on Saturday, January 14, at 1pm. ................................................................ ART SALE There will be an Irish art sale at Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 22. The Galwaybased Dolan’s art auction house will conduct this annual sale, which is normally very popular. It features a wide variety of contemporary and young emerging Irish artists. Prices are reasonable. There will be around 250 lots on offer and most of them have no reserves. Viewing gets underway at 10am on Friday, January 20. ................................................................ ANTIQUE FAIR The opening fair of 2012 by Hibernian Antique Fairs is at the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny tomorrow. It will feature a selection of furniture, Irish art, glass, porcelain, coins, books and collectibles. ................................................................ TAYLOR SALE The sale of the Elizabeth Taylor Collections will provide a talking point for many years to come. Auctioneers Christie’s had reckoned that her jewellery would make more than $30 million (€23.35m). In fact the combined total for two sales of 269 jewels amounted to $137,235,675. Christie’s will offer Old Master paintings from the Taylor Collections in New York at the end of January and other works from her painting collections will be sold at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art sales in London next month. ................................................................
NEW YORK SHOW In New York the Winter Antiques Show, a global premier showcase for fine antiques known colloquially as the Armoury Show, takes place this year from January 20-19 at the Park Avenue Armoury at 67th St in Manhattan. ................................................................ FURNITURE DISPLAY In Dublin a new exhibition displays some of the National Museum of Ireland’s furniture collection in a series of room settings at the Museum of Decorative Arts at Collins Barracks. There is a 17th century bedroom with a rare Flemish stand-bed, oak chests and panelling, a refined Georgian dining room and the exuberant style of a 19th century music room. The music room showcases an eccentric Irish invention: the idiophone or musical glasses. The 20th century gallery looks at Irish modernism, displaying various design movements from 1900 to the present. On display are various arts and crafts pieces of furniture coming from the Kilkenny woodworker’s colony, Art Nouveau chairs purchased at the Paris exhibition of 1900, an Irish Art Deco bedroom, and the thoroughly modernist style of a 1950s living room. It also displays the work of some of Ireland’s best contemporary furniture designers; Joseph Walsh, Nest Furniture Design, John Lee, and Zelouf and Bell. A block screen inspired by Eileen Gray and created by Sasha Sykes highlights Sykes’ unique style encapsulating layers of flowers, ferns, ivy, beetles, and butterflies in acrylic.
ITEMS NOW INVITED FOR INCLUSION
26 COOK ST CORK ∙ 021-4273327 ∙ www.woodward.ie
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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Interior Doors, from old to new!
Showroom: Colomane, Bantry. After Before
(approx 6miles outside Bantry, next to Willie Pa’s Rest.)
We renovate & modernise your existing: Interior Doors, Entrance Doors & Staircases
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Top: Golden Pastures at the Point of Sunset by Arthur Maderson. Left, Shell in Eyeries by Val Byrne. Right, Summer Show by Mark O’Neill. These paintings are in Dolan’s auction at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork on Sunday, January 22.
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TERAPROOF:User:NOELCAMPIONDate:05/01/2012Time:13:22:15Edition:07/01/2012PropertyXP0701Page:22
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IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 07.01.2012
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