RTÉ Home of the Year: See inside 1930s house redesigned for modern family life
The 1930s house in Dublin owned by the Hosty family. Pictures: Joe McCallion
After a decade of renting, the Hosty family bought a semi-detached property in south Dublin in 2018.
Cliona and Derek and their five children were keen to make the house their forever home, but it was almost exactly as it was when it was first built, in the 1930s.
“It was an original two up, two down,” says Cliona.
So, they set about redesigning it to their spec.
This involved changing the location of the staircase, moving the front door, lowering the ground floor, and adding an extension.
“We needed something built especially for a family of seven,” says Derek.
Overall, the family quadrupled the size of the original house.
“It was 55 square metres, and is now 205 square metres — we added the size of a house onto a house,” says Cliona.
The result impresses all three RTÉ judges who give it the top score of the second episode of the current series. “It’s a firm favourite of mine,” says architect Amanda Bone as, on a scoreline of 28, the reimagined Dublin semi wins its spot in the final.
Their interiors Cliona describes as minimalist, Scandi, and contemporary.
In the redesign, the couple had completely gutted the house, pulled down the ceilings, ripped up the carpets and the floorboards, and pulled out the doors, skirting and stairs.
When they took up the floorboards, they saw the opportunity to drop the finished floor level to allow the ceilings to soar, and moving the front door and stairs to the extension supersized the original rooms downstairs.
Interior designer Sara Cosgrove is taken with the floor-to-ceiling storage, complete with a nook (“very practical in terms of pulling on and off shoes”).
Amanda loves the "calm and contemporary streamlined hallway".
“They’ve made the most of the depth of the original home and provided something special here,” she says.
The children’s bedrooms, located on the upper level and in the old part of the house, are also a hit with the judges.
“I love the fact that they’ve kept the original fireplace,” says architect Hugh Wallace.
Amanda adds: “This is my favourite kids’ room to date.”
Overall the semi-detached residence is “a lesson in continuity and consistency”, according to Sara.
“It shows how a small house can be transformed into a stunning and exceptional home,” says Hugh.
“The homeowners have maximised every square inch of this home,” says Sara.
It is clever design at its best, the architecture and interior work seamlessly together.”
Amanda and Hugh give the residence a 9 out of 10, while Sara gives it a 10.
Niamh and Stephen Banahan live in a renovated and extended 18th-century cottage in Co Galway.
The couple bought the home in 2018 and knew they were taking on a project as every room in the home needed a lot of love.
They did as much of the work as they could themselves, taking down internal walls and pulling back lots of plasterboard to reveal beams and trusses in the kitchen and sitting room.
“We were living in an apartment before this, modern, warm, bright, but always wanted to do something like this,” says Stephen.
Niamh adds: “We were so naive, it’s better that I didn’t know how much work was involved.”
They also replaced all the windows and doors and had the chimneys re-lined and re-pointed and the external drainage improved.
They gave the interiors a modern sensibility with Niamh describing the interior style as industrial, Scandi and eclectic.
Their favourite spot is their bathroom.
“You can see the seasons go by when you’re in the bath,” says Niamh.
Sara admires the connection to nature here and throughout the living space.
Though the home is a labour of love for the couple it’s also a great source of pride as, for them, it shows how older stone houses in need of repair can be saved and turned into functional and beautiful homes for modern living.
Annie and Paul Heading live in an environmentally friendly modern newbuild in Co Derry with their two children.
The couple built their home in 2021 on Annie’s family land and were keen that it maximise the views and blend in with the countryside, says Paul.
The upper floor is clad in black timber and the frame was built in Annie’s family workshop onsite.
It was important to the couple that the building was eco-friendly and it has solar panels and an air-source heat pump.
Annie says that on sunny days they are able to charge their electric car from solar energy generated on the home.
Annie and Paul describe the interior style as a mix of clean lines, neutral materials and pops of colour.
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