Period pad almost home for Christmas

Rose Martin catches up with the year-long renewal of a period home as it faces into new occupation

THERE’S only so much ooing and aahing you can get through in a morning but the change in No 3 Newenham Terrace and the promise of what’s to come, does create an excitement in someone who’s only ever seen it as building site.

But for this seasoned visitor, it’s a palace, and while there’s still some way to go the difference is amazing.

Catching up, No 3 is designer Ber Pey’s Grand Design, a renovation and restoration of a fine, four-storey Victorian in the centre of Cork city which is to be her showpiece and showhouse.

Bought in a condition that had barely changed since the day it was built, No 3 Newenham Terrace was taken back to the bones and fleshed out to exacting conservation and regulation standards.

She’s done so well, even the city’s conservation department have given her the equivalent of the gold star, she says, upping her grant money in the process. Well done, City Hall.

And on a sub-zero temperature day, it’s a great place to visit: new radiators are thrumming heat and the once dingy brown house is transformed into a light, bright home.

Progress in these last few weeks has been hard, she says, busy with other clients, (the Christmas rush), so she hasn’t had as much time for her own baby, but to the occasional visitor, there’s a marked change.

It’s no longer a freezing cold site, but an enclosed, snug house, which is nearly there.

It will be finished now for end of January, says Pey — tiles are delivered from the high seas and bathrooms are nearly tiled out — just the great ceramic squares to go down in the kitchen and the fitting of the units.

And then there’s the problem with the Aga, the custom-sprayed stove is on its way from Northern Ireland but hasn’t made it because of the Chris Bonnington-like conditions. The roads are too skeety, (as we say down here) and so the Christmas turnkey and turkey looks unlikely in No 3.

Not to worry though, because the rest of the house is remarkable and shows just what you can do with a good eye and even better builders — conservation experts Cornerstone Construction did all the work.

Now Pey comes into her own, turning brick and mortar into a glorious set piece is easy-peasy for this woman and she’s already trawled the flea markets of Paris for her new abode.

And then, there’s that back garden — oh my.

It surpasses the vague, wave-of-the-hand outline that the designer described and is a contemporary masterpiece with a flawless layout — hats off to landscaper, John Butler.

Clever as anything too it is, because the cascade fountain, (to be banal, like a large post box with a slit for flowing water) at the back is set in a stand-alone wall that creates a visual focus at the end of the garden but also provides privacy from the back gate.

Behind it are secreted the bin stores, the outside tap, security cameras and coded gate. But you never see these elements from the house, just this amazing, clean urban creation that’s a wonderful counterpoint to the stone and sash beauty of Coláiste Daibhéad behind.

Old limestone walls are capped with raised beds and trimmed with decking and there’s a large rectangular area leading from the back door and paved with flamed, Kilkenny limestone.

This runs into the 4’ deep well in the centre of the garden that will be a Moroccan-style, balming spot in summer, but now, is the stage for a twinkling Christmas tree.

The well, (which allows total privacy from the other houses) is trimmed in limestone and framed by decking and the wood continues in the sheeting of the rear screen walls finished with edgy stainless steel lights, ordered through Galaxy in Cork, and which add the final touch.

The contrast with the mellow old brick of the house is marked: but it works so well. Pey has pulled off a bit of a coup in this garden in the centre of the one of the historic areas of the city.

Behind, the copper wings of St John’s College roof curves upward and from the house, it’s a sublime outlook.

The modern building has to be one of the best in the city, and it and Coláiste Daibhéad make a delightful rear view, now added to by this garden — which is in stark relief to the rest of the row.

Standing outside the house and looking at the crisp edge of the Elysian, it’s easy to see why Ber Pey chose this location.

Her project will go on and while she awaits the final finishes, (plumbing, wiring, kitchen and decorating), the furniture for the house is now arriving.

There’s a gleaming chrome bedstead in the hall, (sourced as brass, but chromed to give spectacular results) and a collection of antique light fittings.

There’s an elaborate, 1960s pendant for the deep stair well, a rose pink Fin de Siecle number for the drawing room; a chrome pendant with grape clusters in glass, (these flip for bulb-fitting) and a Hercules Poirot jobbie black and cream for the bathroom.

This isn’t going to be a Georgio-Victorian mish mash — this house is going to have real, glittering class.

Can’t wait to see it finished.