The Great House Revival: Victorian house in Cork gets a makeover as a dream home
Transformed living space in the 170-year-old house in Glenbrook, Passage West, Cork. Pictures: Joe McCallion
In less than two years, two Tipperary friends transformed their lives.
And all set against the backdrop of a a 170-year-old doer-upper on the banks of the River Lee.
That they just happened to completely revamp — turning the draughty building into the high-spec home of their dreams.
It all started when tech professional Rob Hennessey purchased a Victorian villa he spotted in Glenbrook, Passage West, 10km outside Cork city.
Rob snapped up the property for €230,000 and set aside a budget of between €110,00 and €120,000 to restore it, as he informs architect Hugh Wallace on the first episode of RTÉ One series .
“When the tide is in, the view is absolutely mindblowing,” he says. “I fell instantly in love.”
The price tag is “a steal” for the five-bedroomed property just outside the city, adds Hugh.
A year after buying the house, Rob begins single-handedly carrying out work on what is at first, his bachelor pad, in June 2020.
At the time Rob is single, and has spent the winter in the central-heating free property “wrapped around a little storage heater in the sitting room”.
Hugh notes the budget is tight to “turn around a double-fronted, three-storey, 170-year-old house”.
“That’s why I’m going to do a lot of the work myself,” says Rob.
Problems have already shown themselves, not least some dry rot.
Rob also encounters rotten joists, weighted down by vintage building rubble.
Rob is originally from rural Tipperary, and it was perhaps his “outsider’s eye” that helped him appreciate an area some Corkonians might overlook, muses Hugh.
Glenbrook was a high-end destination in the 19th century, featuring baths to which visitors travelled by train and steamboat.
These the baths were later demolished and the river attracted more industry.
He fits the manual heavy labour in around a pressurised day job that starts from around 8am and finishes at 6.30pm. “Then it’s straight to the house, so I’m absolutely wrecked from it,” he says.
As the only worker onsite, he is even focusing on finer details, including restoring a ceiling rose in the sitting room to its former glory.
Hugh suggests a different layout which works out better with the planning office.
Pandemic restrictions are in place and Rob is working from home.
Rob has also found time to begin dating an old friend, Katie, who is also from Tipperary.
By August 2020, he finds that digging out the floors by hand has taken eight weeks longer than anticipated.
But a month on, the lack of floors, doors and plumbing in this bachelor pad cannot stand in the way of true love, notes Hugh, and Katie moves in.
“God love her,” says Rob.
But he adds: “Katie’s moving in has given me the extra boost to finish it!”
Enter specialised craftspeople to replace the cornicing and to work on the windows, where extensive rot is discovered in the base of the frames.
Rob is keen to create an open-plan kitchen.
The existing one has a “cavelike feel”, adds Hugh.
Rob also wants to bring in “lots of light” and maximise the views.
The property is built into a steep hillside and so, as Hugh notes, had been “dark and grim”.
There’s a long list of changes for the tight budget, not least of which is adding bedrooms, digging up floors, putting in underfloor heating, insulating the outside the house, rewiring and replumbing and adding a new kitchen.
In March, the couple reveal they have a brand-new reason to get their riverside renovation finished on time: They are expecting a baby in September.
Archivist Nicola Morris carries out research for the couple, including producing adverts from The Cork Examiner, to show their house’s provenance.
Its original owner was Hugh Flanagan, a Cork undertaker who used his income to build and let property. “We think in 1856 he leased the land and then between 1856 and 1861 it was built. He advertised 3 Glenbrook Place here, for lease, in 1882,” she says.
Progress had been at a standstill in lockdown but Rob’s dad Noel and his friend Ger arrive from Tipperary to help speed things along.
They discover that the rotten timber was caused by a leaky roof, a surprise that costs €3,500.
As the due date is imminent, the interiors still resemble “a bombsite”, says Hugh.
They are living in “a house without a bathroom”, as Katie says.
“We’re on this little one’s timeframe,” she says.
But Katie and Rob are effortlessly positive and the end result is worth it.
The couple and new arrival Caoimhe welcome Hugh to see the finished living space, complete with original features.
“Rob and Katie have brought both their own character and taste to the kitchen and dining room,” he says.
He adds they have been “brave with colour and it’s paid off”.
They have held on to the layers of history by leaving a section of wall exposed as artwork.
And the former temporary kitchen is now a chic nursery for baby Caoimhe.
The original budget has expanded to €160,000 so far: “And that’s all-in, that’s the kitchen, the appliances, so we're delighted,” says Rob.
Hugh is impressed: “For most homeowner this project would be an endurance test, but because of the love that Katie and Rob had for this house they’ve thrived on it, their relationship has thrived on it, and that for me is just so perfect, as is the work they’ve done on this house.”
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