North Cregg House in Fermoy known for its happy madness

Kya deLongchamps enjoys the whimsical interior of a period renovation and extension project near Fermoy which displays the flair of jeweller, Simon Barber.

Anyone who drives a 1991 VW Transporter with a DIY flip-down kitchen and a pot plant clinging to the dashboard is likely to have an interesting house.

Simon Barber’s lofty figure is well known around the town of Fermoy, not only for his family’s business on Patrick’s Street but for his elegant 19th-century mode of dress. He’s always in some unexpected gentleman’s hat for a start and a vintage wrist watch re-imagined with reclaimed, fascinating things sitting up on his tweed waistcoat.