DIY SOS: Designer shares secrets to creating a home in nine days
The Aylwards' house. Pictures: Luke W Cleary/RTÉ/Motive 2021.
Television viewers were moved to tears after seeing a community pull out all the stops to build a new home for popular Kilkenny man Johnny Aylward and his family.
RTÉ's lays the foundation for the 2022 series in an empty field — where we meet Johnny.
On the border between Wexford and Kilkenny, presenter Baz Ashmawy declares the team is about to do something it has never done before: build a house from scratch.
The crew has arrived at what Johnny’s wife Lynn describes as their “field of dreams” and aims to complete the project in 10 days.
“To have come on board and build a house for us in that time-frame you guys are adding a couple of years for me,” says Johnny.
Johnny was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2020 and discovered early the following year that he has the most aggressive type.
The family were living in New Ross at the time and had no means of adapting or owning a house that would cater for him as the disease advances.
His uncle John decided it was time for Johnny to come home to Kilkenny and gifted them the site on his land, adjacent to his own house.
Johnny and and his wife Lynn first met backstage at the New Ross Pantomime Society.
“It was love at first sight,” says Lynn.
They have two young sons together, and Lynn is a fulltime carer for one of their sons.
The team comes to the rescue of the family, and Johnny’s older children from his previous marriage — and this field is where the build starts.
One viewer tweeted: "Only five minutes in and I’m already crying”, while another said: " has me in tears! What an amazing man, family, community and show."
The end result?
The field is utterly transformed into a family-friendly accessible home with panoramic views.
“When all this started we called this the field of dreams,” says Lynn.
Presenter and motivator Baz Ashmawy is joined again by Kerry Hiddleston of Hiddleston Interior Design, Aoife Rhattigan of Restless Design, garden designer Peter Doneghan, and health and safety officer Helena Ryan.
Originally from Edinburgh, Kerry has lived in Ireland for 20 years and has been with from the beginning.
“This was a genuinely incredible family and Johnny is an incredible guy,” she tells me.
“When I met Johnny first, he was able to walk around.
"The next time I met him, he needed to use a stick. He then lost the use of an arm and he now needs to use a wheelchair.
Some 150 volunteers arrive to join the crew.
“I’ve never met a more popular man in my life,” adds Kerry.
At one point we see a band Johnny played with, The Nomads, reunite.
“A friend in the band with him was the architect who drew up the house layout for him. Then I obviously came in,” says Kerry.
“We always got a great turnout.
"Because this was a greenfield site the access may not have been great, but because we had acres around it, you could get more people on to the project, and you could absorb bigger numbers.”
Kerry relished the challenge of working in this timescale and a highlight of the project was getting to know Johnny and his family.
“It was the only time we’ve built a whole house in nine days! It was timber frame, and that was up the first day. It was nuts!” she says.
“And the family were wonderful. Every time I arrived on site, someone was up there on the couch saying they had been at a party in Johnny’s house the night before. This was the most incredible family.”
As for the design?
“This one was different to usual because it was tabula rasa,” she adds.
“It wasn’t a massive house, but I needed to cater for Johnny, who was becoming less mobile, and Lynn, and the kids.
“It is a decent-sized house, but it was still a big family to cater for.
“The bedroom needed a lift, and mechanisms around that.
“So basically I needed to make this four-bedroomed dormer bungalow wheelchair-accessible.
“Also Lynn wanted a pantry and the nice things that we all like, so I stitched it in and made sure that Johnny could wheel into it. I was creating design solutions in a smallish space, which is tricky enough.
“I wanted it to look, when you walked into that house, that you had no clue that it was wheelchair-accessible, because it’s about the whole family.”
- is on Sundays at 6.30pm on RTÉ One
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