In recent years the countryside may have fallen victim to bungalow blitz in some of its most scenic areas, but these same properties could still redeem themselves as affordable boltholes in great locations. So how can you transform a simple bungalow, how much can it be done for, and what’s involved?
It was a for-sale sign outside a log cabin, spotted from their passing car, that prompted the owners of this Co Wicklow property’s first what-if fantasy.
The couple had been staying with friends in Glenmalure in the wilds of Co Wicklow, and while they didn’t buy the log cabin, it did kickstart their search. This traditional-style cottage, built in the 1970s, was the third property they had tried to buy, after the first two sales fell through.
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They weren’t looking for a doer-upper but fell “a little bit in love” with the setting.
Constructed in the vernacular style, the house paid homage to the decade in which it was built. The interior was clad in yellowing pine panelling. It was a dark little house of about 100sq m (1,076sq ft), with small extensions added over the years, including a sunroom tacked on to an outside wall. Rising damp was also an issue.
Undeterred, the owners hired Nicola Ryan of Studio Red Architects to reimagine the property. She simplified the layout, knocking down extensions and reducing the floor space by about 10 metres. While the house was in confused decorative order, some elements were already in place, such as the double-height ceiling in the livingroom, which she retained.
Ryan wanted to open up the house, so she removed the stairs and a partition wall, and installed the staircase in a less visible part of the property. Roof windows were installed over the main living area, as were glass doors, and the whole space was refloored in the same engineered oak. Ryan also shaved space off the two bedrooms, hidden from view behind the mezzanine, making them slightly smaller with well-designed storage.
“What you forfeit there, you gain tenfold in your living space,” she says. “It allowed the room to become an open, airy and light-filled space.”
The kitchen, hidden from view under the mezzanine, is connected to the open-plan room but not on show.
It was designed and built by Marvel Restoration, which did all the built-in furniture in the house, including some nicely jointed deep drawers under the stairs.
The owners wanted a table big enough for someone to work at one end while friends and family dined at the other, so Marvel made a large plywood table top, to which the owners added Ikea legs and chairs. An overhead pendant anchors the dining area and the island, clad in plywood, adds contrast.
In total, the works cost about €80,000, but Marvel suggests working to building costs of between €1,500 and €2,000 per square metre, depending on how bespoke a finish you want.
The architect added little splashes of colour to the mainly neutral walls to make it feel crisp and modern. The shades chosen were inspired by the surrounding landscape: vivid orange, blue-grey and sky-blue incorporated into the cheery rubber flooring of the bathroom and stripes of all these colours on the mezzanine balustrade.
Open fireplace
In the sittingroom area, the open fireplace, framed in slabs of sanded Kilkenny limestone, awaits a wood-burning stove.
Exposed crossbeams here and in the bedroom cast great shadows when the sun hits them.
This shadow play adds another architectural element to the house. On sunny days, glass bi-fold doors by Sapa Building Systems open on to a southwest patio with spectacular views of the surrounding hills.
“It is easy to be relaxed here,” the owners say. A poor phone signal encourages such introspection. With interruptions minimised, they admit to spending hours enjoying nature’s every changing mood in the house and in walks on the surrounding hills.
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Holiday homes: What to do
Simplify the property’s layout. Get rid of any partition walls and raise the sense of ceiling height if you can.
Add light by using Velux windows or other roof lights. In some instances, planning permission may be needed, so check with the local planners before installing. Spend a little extra money on good-quality external doors and windows to counter damp and periods when the house is empty.
In a holiday home, the bedrooms are just for sleeping in, so they don’t need to be huge. Instead, try to maximise the living space.
THREE TO VIEW
Crover, Mountnugent, Co Cavan, €155,000. Agent: DNG O’Dwyer
Three-bedroom detached bungalow, built in the 1970s, on 1.5 acres adjacent to a public road to Lough Sheelin, where the property shares a private jetty with neighbours.
Houseland, Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford, AMV €150,000 Agent: PN O’Gorman
A three-bedroom bungalow on Hook Head, with cracking sea views and within walking distance of Sandeel Bay and the newly refurbished Loftus Hall. For sale by auction on June 26th.
Muckinagh, Co Galway, €90,000, spencerauctioneers.com
Set on an elevated site this four- bedroom bungalow is in the wilds of Connemara, about half a mile from Muckinagh village. Rossaveel is about eight miles away. It has coastal and mountain views and is set on 0.84 acres.
