Who'd live in a house like this? Part 2

Suckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123624078#Comment_123624078

Far too many houses have no input from an Architect. The Engineer and the client are the only one to provide input. I've seen this time and time again and it is quite evident in the vast majority of house builds that I've been involved in.

'Price of everything, value of nothing' thought process.

fonecrusher1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123625380#Comment_123625380

Jesus ive a headache after looking through the interior photos ….

Its a grand size house but its a bit of a mess inside with the various design 'themes' in each room. Its clearly had a few extensions added on over the years which isn't helping with the overall flow through the house.

"Dream County Kitchen"..

Hmm no its not. Nice range and all but pretty sure a dream kitchen it aint got a flourescent strip light in the ceiling.

I think the price is fair for what you get and what you'll have to spend after purchase to drag it into the 21st century. Excluding the main bathroom which looks new enough.

harr

It definitely needs to be dragged out of the 80s .. it looks like a house an elderly couple might have lived in , it certainly hasn’t had any money spent on it in awhile .. not sure about extensions or just badly designed.
It definitely has potential to be a fine house ..

looksee

The Monasterevin house made me feel anxious looking at it! Even stripped out and redecorated/designed I don't think the rooms could work easily. I thought I was going to like it in the first couple of approach photos but it then went completely all over the place.

magicbastarder

earlier, i started scrolling through those photos, got as far as the kitchen and lost interest because it was unremarkable. but based on the above, i went back for a second look.

my impression was that it looks like a house stanley kubrick would have filmed a movie in.

fonecrusher1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123625775#Comment_123625775

Is it that brick wall that triggered the anxiety?…

steinbock123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123616239#Comment_123616239

I wonder why there appears to be at least four of those self contained, generator powered mobile lighting rigs dotted around? Electricity cut off maybe? Or is there 24 hour security needed prior to sale to prevent vandalism and/or theft by persons known or unknown?

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123626146#Comment_123626146

It certainly did not help, especially with the wall curving (strange, unnecessary curve) one way and the sofa curving another. And the trim/ridge whatever at the top of the bricks, and that echoing shadow on the opposite wall, and the timber creeping up into the gloom. And those little ears on the chimney breast.

eh i dunno

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/house-2-the-cottage-courtlough-balrothery-co-dublin/6189410

Not a hope they get that kinda money

Dorothy Raven

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123626942#Comment_123626942

Very pricey for a place that doesn't seem to be decorated very well. Definitely needs money putting into it. Presume it's quite close to the shooting range place, might be noisy for some

Kaybaykwah

Ahhhhhh! Just what the doctor ordered: a shooting range, nearby.

magicbastarder

They've dropped the pin on the map in the listing in the wrong place; within the courtlough complex. It's actually about 500m to the north east of it.

Kaybaykwah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123627730#Comment_123627730

Ahhhh! What a relief.

Luckycharms_74

I spotted this on Daft earlier and was shocked. How are they even legal

Leg End Reject

A quintessential Celtic Tiger MacMansion, proof that money can't buy taste.

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-stonewell-roseberry-newbridge-co-kildare/6209124

magicbastarder

'architect designed' - do architects not realise that toilets need loo roll holders in immediate proximity (pic #8)

as for the rest; it's not a relaxing house.

but the price is weirdly low given the size.

dennyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123629006#Comment_123629006

Based on the decor, that would appear to be a guest WC, and surely you don't invite the sort of people over who would be so gauche as to poo in other people's houses, do you? 😏

(Seriously, you're clearly meant to have one of those fancy freestanding bog roll holders there, so as not to put holes in your posh wallpaper, but the agent couldn't be bothered to stage one…)

Using the same wallpaper in the guest WC as in your fancy sitting room is certainly a choice, incidentally.

As far as the rest of the house, I've seen worse, but it definitely falls into the age-old McMansion trap of making almost every room two or three times the size it ought to be. Weirdly the sitting room and family room actually seem to have reasonable proportions, but the rest of the place is bad, especially the bedrooms. When you can put three double beds into one of your tertiary bedrooms and the room still looks empty, you know you've not done things right. And that king-size canopy bed in pic 19 is a horrible choice, as it emphasises not just how ludicrously oversized the bedroom is, but also how low the ceiling is in proportion to the dimensions of the room.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123628713#Comment_123628713

No link?

MayFeigner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123629381#Comment_123629381

It's better in some ways than the last McMansion mentioned here, but again if the whole structure had just been scaled back it would have been much better. The cruciform shape is a good way to hide the sprawling bulk, and from some angles it looks like a vernacular 2-storey farmhouse that's been extended, but why so many different roof heights and window shapes?

But this doesn't look like a vernacular farmhouse at all. The same confused, mock-classical door casing is used throughout the house, so there's no hierarchy or sense of direction. Somehow the stairs looks flimsy, even though it probably cost a fortune, and like the previous McMansion there's no newel post to anchor it. It looks as if there are three balusters per step on the far side and one on the near side, but on some steps there are two.

Most of those things could be fixed, but you can't fix bunker-like rooms with vast floor area and low ceilings.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123624078#Comment_123624078

Probably a planning stipulation. Ridge height, finished floor levels, that sort of thing?

magicbastarder

Or else it's simply a client wanting a big room to massage their ego and impress their friends.

MayFeigner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123630026#Comment_123630026

That and convenience for construction, I think. Everything is designed around 8x4 sheet material, and restricting height on the ground floor allows for a full two-storey with a big footprint for the house and the rooms in it. Then you have all the projecting bays, gables and sunrooms designed to create even more space without going any higher.

The old farmhouses were two-storeys and about 9 metres at ridge, but they were only one room deep, so they looked compact. This principle of proportion is lost on architects, draughtsmen, builders and the people who work at the council planning offices.

rn

Wrt the OSB house in Wicklow posted a few pages back... It's likely that's ceramic OSB effect tile on the floors as opposed to OSB. I couldn't imagine having OSB flooring would work otherwise. It surely would always chip, no matter what finish you put on it?

humberklog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123630000#Comment_123630000

Agree with everything you said there.

The baluster distribution I think is simply done on the space available. The inner radius at the bottom is quite tight. The outer quite large. I'd say there's 2 per step both sides by the time you get to the return towards 1st floor.

5 balusters on the bottom left must be a pain in the arse for the cleaner.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123630000#Comment_123630000

What’s with finishing the bannister on the second step?

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123630189#Comment_123630189

They looked like full sheets, and in one place you could see the join between sheets, it didn't look like tile, it looked like OSB.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123624078#Comment_123624078

Assuming that v.high ceiling not being an aspect of the design, means the architect was unaware how they affect light is a bit naïve. Ceiling heights will be a client decision. While they look much better. They also add costs. Not only that they increase the mass of the house. Most people won't want the hose to feel imposing externally. But the biggest obstacle to high ceilings, is planning.
The heights look to be 2700. That's higher than most. 3000-3300 would be better, I agree. But between costs and planning, I get why we don't see them as much as we used to. The Dado is about 900. That's the correct height. Much lower and it would be a dado.

There is a lot wrong with that design. But I wouldn't be putting ceiling heights at the top of the list.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123624829#Comment_123624829

Could forgive the cloakroom (as that's up to the client). But the other two are up to the architect. Though, a vibrating floor is as likely be badly installed than badly designed.

MayFeigner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123632193#Comment_123632193

Height of the dado or "chair rail" is derived from classical orders and must be scaled up or down depending on the height of the room. 900 is too high for a room with 9-foot ceilings, which can be seen just by looking at it.

https://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/12/03/misused-confused-chair-rail/

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123632902#Comment_123632902

It's nice in theory. But it's not accurate. It's taking that out of context and making a huge leap.

Firstly he's a bit mixed up about the classical orders, which were all different ratios.
Then he jumps 2000 years to Asher Benjamin's "rules", but those would be the rules for porticos on the front American Greek Revival homes - eg the columns on the front of the White House. It might make sense to use those proportions internally in a US period home - but deciding that is the "correct" height forever in the rest of the world, no matter the period or style is a bit bizarre.

In the UK, Ireland, etc. Dados were lower in Georgian times (also came with picture rails), but were "chair" height by Victorian/Edwardian, and continued from then to today. It's been a few hundred years, I think the trend is set.

By all means in a period home, go a bit lower, have a picture rail, etc. But for contemporary houses like 800-900mm is fine.