'See the dream house we found on RTÉ's Cheap Irish Homes'

Home Editor Eve Kelliher talks to Steffi Toenker who bought and revamped her property ‘Áit Shona’ in the heart of West Cork

A panoramic range of colours sweeps the first-floor landing. Pictures: Noel Sweeney

Most of us have a zone in our living space we regard as our “happy place”.

But there’s no point asking Steffi Toenker to choose one favourite spot inside or out. Like her cats Penny and Lexi, Steffi Toenker could purr with contentment just about anywhere in her home.

That’s one of the reasons she named it Áit Shona — the Irish for happy place. 

Steffi first approached the front door of the West Cork property last year with a film crew in tow. As you do.

During her house hunt with her son Cian O’Sullivan-Toenker, 14, Steffi had signed up to take part in the sixth series of RTÉ’s Cheap Irish Homes in 2022.

Steffi Toenker with her son Cian Toenker-O'Sullivan. 

Co-presenters Maggie Molloy, of the Cheap Irish Houses blog, and Kieran McCarthy, building engineer, showed Steffi and Cian three properties, during filming, in 2022, in Kealkil, Dunmanway, and Dromore.

It was the final house that was a hit.

As well as planting greenery and putting down roots for herself and her son, Steffi was keen to source a building that was grounded in history.

At the time they were living in rented accommodation and were looking to buy within a 45-minute drive of Clonakilty, so they could commute to Cian’s school.

Maggie Molloy takes up the tale. “It’s the most magical story ever. The day Steffi walked into the yard in Cork, I knew, she knew, it was going to be her house.” The two-storey farmhouse, located between Bantry and Skibbereen, had a price tag of €150k.

Why did it stand out?

The dining room in Steffi and Cian's home.

Its manageable size and the fact that it didn’t require “tonnes” of renovation work immediately gave her “freedom”, says Steffi.

The property also fit neatly into the duo’s budget of €200k-€220k.

“The following week, we went sale agreed,” she says.

“I offered the asking price straight away. The auctioneer, Nicholas O’Sullivan, was also the owner. He met me with his wife. They liked me. So, that is why I think it was all meant to be. There were no bidding wars.

“He was very happy with how he felt I would treat the house, it was a house he was very fond of and he had very happy memories of the house. He had rented it, but he had lived there himself for a short time.”

And it was the seller who also inspired the name, she reveals.

“I remember Nicholas saying to me this was always a happy place for everyone living here, so that’s also why decided to give it the name Áit Shona,” Steffi tells me.

But the path to their “happy place” was paved with many emotions.

This mixture of joy and overwhelm was one Maggie could relate to.

“Maggie and I had an instant connection,” says Steffi.

Both are still in touch.

The annex to the main bedroom, bathroom and the landing.

Maggie continues: “I remember when we were doing the wrap up we were in Bantry. It was 20 minutes after we had left the house. The two of us were so emotional. The guys filming were quite far away from us doing a wide shot. Steffi gave me a hug and it was really special. 

"Suddenly we could see the cameramen had spotted it and were running down the hill and they said to us: Can you do it again? And we just laughed and said: ‘Nope! The moment has passed’.”

The country-style kitchen.

Steffi moved to Ireland from Germany to work in the hospitality industry over 16 years ago and had lived in rental properties.

“I wanted to find somewhere where I didn’t have to have a potted garden any more. I’m not joking, I carried over 100 flower pots with me when I moved here!” says Steffi who also planted trees on the property with her son.

What she grows depends on the season.

“I love peonies and roses, whatever I can get my hands on! I try to grow by seed as well,” she says. “Cosmos, wildflowers — bee-friendly flowers.” The biggest transformation, she adds is inside.

“Everything was painted black before we moved in. It took five layers of white paint, including primer, to transform it,” she says.

“Everything was bought locally, for instance in Topline Murphy and O’Connor, Bantry.”

Steffi, who moved to West Cork from Mulhausen in Thuringia in Germany 16 years ago, previously lived in Courtmacsherry and Timoleague.

“My background was in hotel management, I had done that for over 13 years in Germany and after doing everything in hotel management, I got a corporate job,” she says.

The bathroom at Áit Shona has a turquoise colour scheme.

The English language had not been a subject for her in school, she adds “but I learned it one year in Clonakilty!”

“It was not an easy journey, starting off,” she says.

“I’m a single mother. But thanks to my job in the last year, I was able to finally get my hands on the right mortgage.”

The past year was transformative in many ways for Steffi, who works in cyber security, for Trellix.

Cian and mom Steffi on their newly renovated upstairs landing. “I’m a single mother. But thanks to my job in the last year, I was able to finally get my hands on the right mortgage.”

“I also had another life-changing experience last summer because I had bariatric surgery on May 4 last year,” she says.

“Since then I have lost a total of eight stone. In October, I had to have a knee replacement operation — so I had a timeline — because of this my whole renovation was done within four weeks.”

This ensured the Irish concept of the “meitheal” is familiar to Steffi, whose parents, Monika and Willi, arrived from Thüringen to lend a hand, while Cian’s dad also joined the renovation team.

“I got the key at the beginning of September 2022 and moved in, and had my knee operation on October 4, and I had really finished the renovation before that. I had no choice.

“You can paint, you can wallpaper — I learned how to tile; that’s how I grew up. I was raised in a family that built their own house, and in an environment where my dad did everything himself, and is very good at DIY. I grew up in East Germany, in the 1980s, and that’s what you did back then. Everyone helped each other.”

Cash and Carry Kitchens supplied the new kitchen. “They were so helpful and got me some extra discounts,” says Steffi. 

“So many people really stepped in and were fantastic. I sat down twice a week and went over my budgets I think that is a little talent of mine — organising budgets.”

The living room at Áit Shona.

Creativity is another of Steffi's strengths. “I love interiors as well as gardening. If I were to have another career, it would involve gardening or interior design,’ she adds. “I basically took everything out of the house and had a blank canvas. I repainted the original black living spaces.”

Viewers of the TV series may remember the dark colours in the living spaces as Steffi and Cian entered the property in the original episode. It didn’t daunt them. “I painted the walls five times over to bring light back into the house,” says Steffi.

“There was a pile of rewiring that needed to be done and a complete new bathroom that had to be added, and a new kitchen that had to be fitted.”

Steffi and Cian with Maggie Molloy and Kieran McCarthy during filming of RTÉ's Cheap Irish Homes.

“It’s in the bathroom that we found we had the biggest transformation, we just created so much more light and space."

They also bought new sofas, from DFS, and furniture from Wayfair.

As for paintings, Steffi is a talented acrylic artist so her own original seascapes and landscapes adorn the walls.

Steffi's easel, canvas and cat rest on the newly renovated landing at her home.

Steffi has set up her artist's studio in the upper-floor landing area of the two-bedroom house.

They added three skylights on the north side of the house and "revamped the living area — a lot," she says. 

Steffi has grand designs on an old drystone shed that came with the property. “It has so much character and I am going to build a granny flat as well so my parents will be able to come on holidays and it would also be ideal for Airbnb and also even for Cian when he is older,” she says.

• Cheap Irish Homes is on RTÉ One on Thursdays at 7pm