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.
It was a plan that like many others in the last four years coincided with covid and became an month build, but one that has been worth it for Vicki and her family, resident since just before Christmas But it was online the vision began. 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.
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. Limestone underfoot leads the way into the open-plan kitchen and dining area with views of the garden beyond.
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. 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.
