A 150-year-old farmhouse with a brand new modern extension has emerged as the house to beat in RTE’s Home of the Year.
Judges Hugh Wallace, Amanda Bone and Sara Cosgrove were back in business this week with three more homes to visit.
And the competition was tight, as they visited a refurbished 1970’s home in Dublin, a 19th Century farmhouse in Co. Wicklow and a 1980’s chalet style bungalow in Belfast.
But in the end it was Kate and Shane Byrne and their newly refurbished farmhouse overlooking the Wicklow mountains that proved triumphant.
The property has been in Shane’s family for decades but when they moved in, in 2018, they knocked through all the smaller rooms and added an extension to create an open plan living space with lots of natural light.
The family love the sense of history in their home and that their son is the 4th generation of Byrne to grow up there.
And describing it as their “forever home” they know that, in time, it’ll be a place for his own family.
The judges loved it too, hailing the house and the renovation skills as “sophisticated” and “uplifting”.
Scoring it a nine, Sara said: “The balanced use of contemporary and classic furniture pieces and the sophisticated use of colour palettes throughout create a home that has a wonderful spirit.”
Hugh agreed, also scoring it a nine, adding: “What a successful refurbishment and extension of a 19th Century farmhouse. This home is a great example of a successful marriage between old
and new.”
Conflicted by certain elements of old and new, Amanda scored the property an eight, but heaped praise on the home owners for their work.
She said: “This home is full of light, it’s spacious, comfortable, uplifting and has a great connection with the surrounding landscape.”
The house will go through to the final in April.
Elsewhere, Niamh Peare, an architect and interior designer, and James, an engineer, and their two daughters live in a 1970’s home with modern refurbishment in Dublin.
The home originally had small rooms and was quite dark internally, so they carried out a complete refurbishment using custom-built furniture to provide a consistent connection with nature and introduced biophilic materials, textures and patterns.
They love that they’ve created a healthy, happy family home that promotes their well-being.
Kerry and Nicky Devlin live in a 1980’s chalet style bungalow with their twin boys. They stumbled upon this property and fell in love with the location and incredible views.
When the couple moved in, the house was neutral with dated decor, so they renovated the home to give it their
own stamp.
The interior design of this home is inspired by mid-century, modern and Scandi interiors; mixing vintage and retro furniture with modern pieces with plenty of colour, pattern and textures.
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