Country House: The Cork home made beautiful by an owner with a flair for interiors
The main entrance hall at Elibank House. Pictures: David Creedon
Is there an accent lovelier than a Cork one I ask, as a totally biased Cork woman? Maybe there is when it has a hint of Scottish burr intoning a warm welcome and the offer of a creamy cup of coffee as I discovered one spring morning when arriving at the newly built Castlemartyr home of Vicki Faller which she shares with husband Des and their three young children.
As a professional interiors snoop, I love nothing more than a visit to a beautifully designed house-made-home by an owner with a flair for interiors. In this case, informed by living in Scotland where she tackled a series of challenging renovations on old houses.
Over coffee, while roosting myself on a high stool at her kitchen island, Vicki tells me how she departed Cork for Edinburgh in her 20s and met Derry-born Des there, deciding years later to raise their family back in Castlemartyr, Vicki’s home turf.
It was a plan that like many others in the last four years coincided with covid and became an 18-month build, but one that has been worth it for Vicki and her family, resident since just before Christmas 2022.
But it was online the vision began. “We saw a picture on Pinterest of a neo-Georgian with a stone garage about six years ago and always talked about moving back to Ireland to build a home just like it. The design evolved over the years due to practicalities, internal requirements and cost, but the essence is still very much drawn from that one image.”
Driving through the gates on a quiet country road, the building is already settling into the landscape, something that usually takes a plaster-rendered house many years to achieve but it’s
helped by the attached garage having been clad in stone. “We used original stone that came out of boundary walls and had it dressed. It took six months to clad,” Vicki says.
It’s just one example representing the planning, patience and perseverance that characterises the entire project.
“Living in Edinburgh for many years we have always had an appreciation for beautiful old buildings that stood the test of time but with a twist of modern form and functionality. The front of our home is neo-Georgian in style and proportions and connected to the traditional stone-clad garage, but at the back where we spend most our time, it is filled with light and modern materials.”
From the front door details abound, mixing modern materials with subtle citations of the Georgian period in the coving and volume of the space with its three-metre-high ceilings.
Family heirlooms greet you, including a shaving stand inherited by Vicki from her grandmother, and a sideboard given to the family by her mother-in-law sitting comfortably with Vicki’s modern styling. Limestone underfoot leads the way into the open-plan kitchen and dining area with views of the garden beyond.
Among the many attractive features in the kitchen is a pair of beaten brass lights over the island, and Vicki’s choice of colour palette. “Farrow & Ball,” she says. “Skirting and architraves and doors are De Nimes; Purbeck Stone on the cabinetry, walls are Ammonite: It’s my default white. “I love a subtle colour palette and relaxing earthy tones which I used throughout our home. However, I also like to have fun in some of the rooms, especially the kids’.” But it’s not a case of style over substance. Practicality reigns, often cleverly hidden behind closed doors. A walk-in pantry houses items like dried goods, the air-fryer, toaster and even the butter dish so everything is on hand when the day starts for this busy family.
“We’re manic in the morning,” Vicki says, “then we close the pantry door and we’re gone.”
While open-plan has been a feature in so many Irish builds in recent years and Vicki has embraced elements, she has also enabled a more cocooning feel for family life thanks to pocket doors, glazed double doors, and even a secret door between the family room to the rear of the property and what will eventually be a cinema room to the front which is still a work in progress and the first sign that the home continues to evolve.
Another room, off the kitchen, Vicki cosily calls the snug. It features an L-shaped sofa in neutral upholstery with comfortable cushions for evenings in front of the wood-burning stove set into an impressive reclaimed white marble fireplace. Above all, it’s a family home. A small playroom houses the children’s treasures while little trikes and ride-on cars are parked all around the house. “They’re outdoorsy, country children, but on bad days they cycle around in circles through the kitchen and hall, into the cinema room, through the secret door into the family room,” Vicki says.
This secret door, as well as facilitating energetic play, also has historic connotations and was something Vicki really wanted. “There are all these things you can do when you’re planning,” she starts to tell me, which steered us into discussing the planning process for this sizable property with its five bedrooms, all en-suite.
“We had lived in the UK for many years and had no idea of Irish requirements. We engaged with the planning department from the start to understand their requirements for building in the countryside and what challenges we might face with certain elements we’d hoped to include. I’m a firm believer in communication being key to any smooth outcome in life and found this step invaluable.”
It was a long process in which they were helped by an architect family friend. “He did 13 iterations of the plan,” says Vicki. “We were very active clients.” Before climbing the stairs, a look at some of the more functional as
pects of the home revealed a back corridor from the kitchen to the garage where Vicki put the downstairs toilet, and rather than leave the remainder as a thoroughfare, she’s cleverly turned it into a utility space, installing her laundry appliances, a sink, storage and overhead drying rack.
Onward to the first floor, one of the good things about climbing stairs is that if there’s an interesting ceiling above, you’ll see it before being told to look up. In this case, it’s a view of Vicki’s spectacular ceiling rose hanging above the landing, a replica of one in a period house in Lismore and citing the one she had in her house in Scotland.
But it’s often said that no matter how you plan your build there’s always something you regret. Vicki mentions two things but not unrectifiable things.
“I’d paint the window insides white to make interior styling easier. We have tons of spotlights. We never use them, we use lamps, but we have tons of lighting cables if we ever wanted to move lights.”
It takes us on to the topic of valuable lessons learned when building or renovating. She cites compromise. “There will always be compromises, sometimes because of planning but usually because of budget,” she says. “Perseverance will always be key. The big ticket item that came in way over budget was our stairs. We sat down with our joiner and looked at every cost element and came to a compromise that still gave us the result and look that we wanted but most importantly at a price we could afford.”
So what would be her advice to anyone starting a build or renovation project? “Ask if there is a more affordable way of doing something. Question it all, from the core that’s been spec’d by the architect or engineer to the insulation that’s being used by the builder. If you have a quantity surveyor involved, read his costings and try and understand them as there may be further savings that can be made, or conversely, things you will need to up-spec.”
A wise approach to purchasing for the build also made savings, picking some of the key materials early in the day. “We waited for sales, put down deposits to secure prices and always kept an eye on places such as DoneDeal. These little savings and early payments really help when it comes to the end of the project as this is where the budget is most stretched. Research every element you can — at times it’s exhausting but the reward is immeasurable. It may not be perfect but you’ll always be proud.”
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