Inside the house at St Luke's in Cork inspiring interiors fans

And Brian Caffin and Peter O'Toole's home is no stranger to the limelight having starred in the movie Angela's Ashes

Sun, 03 Sep, 2023 - 11:00

Carol O’Callaghan

Imagine growing up on a farm that’s been in your family since the 16th century, playing among its 14 buildings, attics crammed full of inter-generational furniture and ephemera. You’ll either run a kilometre from anything olde-worlde in adulthood or totally embrace it.

For Brian Caffin, a native of historic Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, this particular childhood experience established a lifelong love of antiques, an interest he shares with his husband, Connemara photographer Peter O’Toole (cousin of the late filmstar, by the way).

Cork City couple Brian Caffin and Peter O’Toole, owners of the new online interiors emporium St.Lukes.

Happily settled together in Cork City, they’re launching a new modern homeware range online called St.Lukes this weekend. The name is a nod to the city neighbourhood where the couple has chosen to live with the woman in their lives, Penny the cat.

It’s the next step from an antiques business they established in 2020, but they’ve been particular about the curation of the range, avoiding stark contemporary lines in favour of what Brian describes as “things that bring soul”, and informed by the couple’s interior choices in their 1901 terraced house where a balance of antique and contemporary styling avoids the influence of relentlessly changing trends.

A blue and off-white colourway continues into the kitchen, a space blending practicality with a nod to the character of this period home.

It, too, has movie connections having had its exterior star in Angela’s Ashes, acting the part of a Limerick house.

Brian describes their style as “embracing the darkness”, so they haven’t been afraid of deeper colours.

“When it comes to decorating, I'm all about mixing tradition with a twist of moody, dark modern rustic vibes,” Peter says. “I want everything in my house to have its own story and character because when you walk into a home, you should feel that personal touch.”

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The result is a contemporary take on the colour schemes favoured by the Victorians and early Edwardians, where vintage clocks are as much their style as modern print and photography.

But Brian is mindful of the difficulties people have integrating antiques. “People don’t understand how to include an antique in their modern home,” he says. “We want to show how amazing it is to merge the two.”

Brian and Peter's home has original floor tiling in the hall with a modern mirror and console table showing the balance between antique and modern.

For all their success at antiquing, it wasn’t easy to find the modern wares he and Peter wanted.

“When we bought the house, we felt limited in options in Ireland,” Brian says. “As a gay couple, we weren’t seeing ourselves. Interiors are female-orientated. It’s been fun finding pieces across Europe that would suit our darker home; things with a rugged aesthetic.”

Taking a close look at St.Lukes tablewares, it’s apparent what Brian means by wanting the collection to have soul. The products, though modern in design, have a heft and subtle detail that gives them a character not found in the trend for stark wares.

A standout item and a favourite of his is the Gougane Barra Honey mug detailing the design of French utility glassware that waiters in long white aprons in Provençal bistros serving fishy Brandade de Morue, might slosh gutsy claret into.

A modern home office sits comfortably in the context of original floors and door and heritage colour choices.

“There is something very nostalgic and comforting about the design and colour,” says Brian.

It seems you can take the Frenchman out of France but not France out of a man who is a self-professed Corkman, complete with the accent of a native after 18 years.

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Maybe it’s because of his photographer's eye that Peter's favourite item in the range is a print collection.

“Out of all the stuff we have on sale in St.Lukes the Dudes Factory prints are hands-down my favourites,” he says. “We stumbled upon them during a trip to Berlin and, man, their dark humour and style just clicked with us.”

Peter O'Toole's favourites in the range are the Dudes Factory graphic prints.

At the top end of the price range is a set of six Portuguese ceramic dinner plates for €149, and at the other are French-designed postcards from €2.99 and vintage Indian Chapati bread rolling pins, €10.

Peter’s atmospheric photography is also for sale, taking Cork’s architectural and cultural heritage as his subject matter. As another Corkophile, he tells of an early interest in the city.

Some of the st.lukes homewares, ranging in price from €2.99-€149.

“Ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with the opening credits of Nationwide. They always showed the Shandon Bells in Cork, and I told myself I'd visit someday. After I finished my master's in visual communication in Donegal, I got job offers in Dublin and Cork. Without even checking out Cork beforehand, something just told me it was the place to be, so, I took the plunge and never looked back.”