RTÉ Home of the Year: Dublin house first through to the final
The Dublin house that is first to go forward to the final in the 2023 Home of the Year series. Pictures: Joe McCallion
The day after they moved in, Ciara McMahon and Richie Hannify got married and held their wedding reception in their property, cementing the house as a home from the very start.
They share the modern mid-century residence in County Dublin with their golden retriever, Stella.
When the couple bought their home in 2020, it needed to be updated so they gutted the 1950s property and knocked down the garage to extend the house to the side and rear.
“We wanted to keep it true to its form but we definitely knew we wanted to do something a little bit different at the back,” says Ciara.
Their pooch Stella “absolutely adores" the result, adds Richie — and the Home of the Year judges agree, with all three giving the house nine out of ten marks, earning it the top score at the end of the first episode of the 2023 series on RTÉ One.
The kitchen-living area features a cloakroom, utility and pantry area, all concealed by “covered, secret doors”, adds Ciara.
Both she and Richie love interiors and describing their style, she says: “I want to say it’s eclectic but I always feel like that’s a little bit of a cop-out.
"It’s quirky and might not necessarily be for everyone but it works for us.”
Their favourite spot, in the dining area, is inspired by a booth in Ciara’s grandmother’s house, with a column of plates hanging on the wall.
“Some of the plates we also took from Ciara’s granny’s wall,” admits Richie.
Both are keen to see what the judges, architects Hugh Wallace and Amanda Bone and interior designer Sara Cosgrove, have to say.
“We’re big Amanda fans,” says Riche.
They need not worry. “The homeowners have carried out the refurbishment in a very elegant, very restrained manner,” says Amanda.
Overall this is “a great example of how to take a 1950s home and transform it”, says Hugh.
“This home is about perfection.”
And it filters down to every last detail, as Hugh eyes a comfortable perch in the living space.
“So often people put in window seats and they’re really not big enough for your bottom,” he says.
The pink plasterwork of the extension’s exterior reminds him of Mexico, he adds, as the trio carry out a survey from the back garden, with Sara admiring the “sense of wow and drama” the addition lends.
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Niall McGuire lives in a new-build thatched cottage in County Armagh.
Niall bought the land six years ago and was keen to build a modern home in a traditional style.
“I was living in Australia and I was sort of getting a bit nostalgic and I wanted to move back home," says Niall. "I saw these ruins of an old house and I thought this would be a lovely site."
His favourite spot features the stone from the original building. “There’s no TV, no technology, it’s just a complete switch-off spot,” he adds.
Niall has worked with tradespeople and done as much work on the home as he can himself, by plastering the outside, helping with the roof, putting down floors and doing the wiring.
He has also had a lot of help from friends and family along the way.
Niall loves older-style houses and the character they have and wanted to create the appearance of a home that had been extended over the years and keep true to Irish vernacular architecture in its exterior and layout.
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Gael and Kelda Jauvert live in a barn structure in Co Meath.
On the site was a three-bay shed that they had hoped to renovate. Unfortunately, the structure of the building was in too poor a condition to save and so they decided to build their new home in the same shape and footprint as the former building.
The result is deemed by architect Hugh Wallace to be “a great example of how to build a house in the countryside”.
“It’s a marvellous bespoke family home,” adds Hugh.
And the Jauverts were determined to share that bespoke space with every single member of the family.
“We wanted to create a barn: We were never looking for just a house, we were looking for something to include the horses, we’ve 12 horses,” says Kelda.
The couple bought the land with outbuildings in the spring of 2019.
They also reproduced the barn’s exposed metal frame, block walls with grey cement render and the red roof and cladding, ensuring that the house fit in with the surroundings perfectly.
“I just love this structure, this shape is so synonymous with the Irish landscape,” says Hugh.
Their favourite spot is sitting around the dining table, says Gael.
But, adds Kelda, their panoramic views throughout their home mean she can sit anywhere in the house and look out at their horses.
She and Gael approached the entire project with a minimalist and up-cycling spirit.
They built the kitchen, shelves, bar and countertops all from mostly left-over building materials, scaffolding planks and pallets.
Sara enjoys how “the homeowners have kept the barnlike feel”, as does Amanda.
“The homeowners have really gone for it and have continued the theme on the inside,” she says.
The size and scale please Amanda.
“The clutter in the kitchen is hanging on the wall — I’m telling you, normally I’d be horrified by that but it works here because of the size of the space,” she says.
“It actually feels like you could open that door and you could bring the horses in.”
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- Home of the Year airs on RTÉ One on Tuesdays at 8.30pm and will be on the RTÉ Player
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