DIY Tips

RESTORING A PERIOD BEAUTY TO PERFECTION

Improving a period home must be done the right way or you may pay a high price, Kya deLongchamps reports

Buying into the soul-stirring loveliness of an old building is the stuff of many a fantasy, and has drained the emotional and financial reserves of countless souls brave enough to shoulder a full project. It could be a collapsed cottage, a sadly faded farmhouse or a loftier piece of Georgian grandeur, but the problem of approach is often the same. The vast majority of period buildings in Ireland have little protection against unsympathetic improvements, and the results are scattered all over the country, a showcase to confused intentions.