The Great House Revival

chosen1

Not all to my taste but absolutely brilliant to achieve the finish that they did within the couples budget.

They didn't give an exact finished figure but mentioned that the mortgage was below the average rent for houses in this country. Compared to the semi-detached shoeboxes that are for sale for over half a million these days, this place is on a different level and can't be any serious critism levelled at it.

mickdw

375 was I think for the 2 floors to builders finish.

Adding the additional finishes to 3rd storey and fit out from builders finish to furnished conditions' they were surely well over 500k.

touts

They did a great job on it and it looked fantastic so well done to them for that.

But I have to say this recent trend of utterly low balling what the owners actually spent is starting to annoy me. If you take it at face value they paid less than the price of a 3 bed semi in Dublin to have a multi million euro home. That's utter bollox. And worse still it leaves people around the country feeling like idiots for spending the money they did on their homes (either buying or building). I can understand that it is no longer cool to say you spent a million on the house. The Celtic tiger is thankfully dead. But just don't talk about the financial aspect if they are going to pick some number out of their arse that is probably half what the actual cost was.

HeidiHeidi

Oh God, those windows 😫

I hate them.

There was one in the ground floor that was a large single pane - I wonder why that one was different? I'd love to have seen dark grey or black single pane windows throughout, I think it would have been stunning (said in my best Hugh voice!).

The decor inside mostly wasn't to my taste, but obv was to theirs (hers!!) - so more power to them.

Like the first week, an amazing job - and camping at home for a few years and then having a baby while still living with separate parents, and then camping in the half finished building site - not as bonkers as the Cork couple, but you'd still have to admire the gutsiness of it!

To have the vision and balls to even think that was possible for the price of a modest semi-d in Dublin (ok they inherited the shell/ site) was amazing. Never mind to pull it off to the level they did.

I think they were absolutely right up push the budget and get all 3 floors done while the builders were in - you could be years getting around to finishing off, and the disruption would be awful. This way they can just tweak and upgrade as they go on.

Very impressive altogether!!!

harr

Not to my taste but wow it’s a great achievement to bring it back to life and show what can be accomplished.

definitely Looking at over half a million when finished. Would love to have seen some stone work left on the inside it was shame to plaster it all over.

Second Week now where advice wasn’t taken on board .. the windows definitely don’t suit it and I can imagine it’s going to be an nightmare to keep warm with that full hight void.

More than likely had a cash inheritance going into this as well , hard to see any bank handing over a huge mortgage in the jobs they had .. but she had a house to sell so that went into it as well.

When you see what is being sold in Dublin for half a million this build looks like a bargain.

mickdw

I didn't like the internal finishes in that it didn't even give a nod to the old structure.

It was completely hidden.

Also I'd have thought there would be conservation people all over a build like this but not a sign of it.

Princess Calla

I don't buy for a minute someone was watching the house. If they were you don't move in with a young baby until everything is secure the dad and a mate would camp out together. I suspect tensions got too much in one or both of the parents houses.

They said the builder agreed 375 at the start that was pre covid ....I suspect going by all the talk of how prices were increased in "room to improve" and "my bungalow bliss" that that figure was close to doubling by the end. The builder may have taken abit of a hit considering he got abit of advertising on the programme.

I would have put clear plane windows with probably a grey or brown frame in to make them blend as much as possible.

The rest of the house I thought was lovely, interior magazine photoshoot house. Wouldn't last 2 minutes with me but I did like it.

They seemed a nice couple. Though he seems like everything was handed to him and he never had to make a decision in his life.

The Princess Bride

Had a quick look at her page on Instagram. In fairness to both of them, they've no problem with rolling up their sleeves and doing painting etc...You'd easily save hundreds by doing so.

CorkRed93

fairplay to them great work but that house is absolutely huge. only one thing id have done if i was them, demolish and build new. cant get over the size of the place😂

Stone Deaf 4evr

I do wish they'd show more technical details on how different things were achieved, but this is probably a personal bias as I'm in the trade myself.

Stuff like how they weathertight the windows given the absence of traditional DPC, and any other steps taken to prevent water ingress, more details on how its being heated, etc.

IMO, they do a disservice to the people funding the project by selectively editing footage to make fake drama. Hugh is no Kevin McCloud, whose endearing interest in how features are achieved, rather than the pearl clutching, wide eyed astonishment over window choices etc is much more appealing.

Hugh also comes off as a bit smug, like he almost likes to see things go sideways or run into hassle.

LunaLoo

It was an incredibly ambitious project so fair play to them. It would be something I would love to do if I won the euro millions. She definitely wears the trousers and he just goes with the flow. I would love to know final figures but like a previous poster said I'd say the builder took a hit. It was 100% the right decision to get the 3rd floor done whole builders were there. I'm a bit disappointed with the interior having no sign of the old building, some stone could have been kept visible. Also note its about reviving houses that have been left to rot not restoring them. There are so many of these projects in every town in the country waiting for someone brave enough (and with pockets deep enough) to take them on. The couple from last night were in a very fortunate position of having ingeriand proceeds from sale of a property, plus living at home probably meant they had little to none living expenses so definitely not a viable option for a lot of people especially with a newborn which I'd say definitely had a large part to play in them moving into a building site. So overall well done to them they could have easily gone down the route of building from scratch and had a home built for them in half the time and budget probably.

Also can anyone confirm exactly how many bedrooms they ended up with. I know 3 was said but I presume that was at the beginning when it was just the 2 floors they were doing.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910249#Comment_118910249

Yeah the size was truly massive, did they state at any point exactly how big it was? I'd imagine over three floors it was around 450sqm but it could be even more than that. Even at 450sqm its the equivalent of owning three 3 bed semi-detatched houses. I was shuddering at the thought of cleaning all those floors and the 43 windows, like cleaning the windows alone would be a long full days work. I think houses of that size are completely impracticable unless the owners are wealthy enough that for the rest of their time they can always pay cleaners to maintain it and there is an ongoing cost behind that which builds up over the years. There is easily 8 hours work there every week just to keep on top of things and doing it all yourself would be like having a part time job on top of your full time one.

I've a couple of friends who built a 240sqm house and their intention at the start was to maintain it themselves. But after about 3 months they threw in the towel and got a cleaner in at a cost of about 5,000 a year becasue half of their Saturdays were getting taken up with the amount of work that needed to be done to keep the place looking well. The house last night was twice that size, its a fair sized task to maintain a house that big when you have full time jobs and kids to raise on top.

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910724#Comment_118910724

I think Hugh said the ground floor was the same size as a 3 bed bungalow. I don't recall the actual square footage in the end being mentioned.

I'm such a messy creature I'd be living in the mezzanine or even on the third floor away from guests eyes.

HeidiHeidi

I thought they said near the end it was 420 sq m

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910841#Comment_118910841

A 3 bed bungalow would be around about 100-120sqm so they basically have the space of three regular houses. If anything they would have been better off shaving off the top floor and and just going with about 240sqm over two floors which is still a very big house. Though Id guess if it was a listed building they had to keep it at three floors to get planning permission.

I know the trend in Ireland is that our houses are getting bigger than what they were in the past, they are heading toward American sizes rather than European ones. Things like home offices, walk in wardrobes, utility rooms and more en suites all add on to make new houses about twice the soze of a regular 3 bed semi or bungalow that a lot of people grew up in. New builds in the range of 200-240sqm are common enough these days but what they built last night is twice that size. It would be like living in a small hotel or guesthouse. Some people would love that but it just wouldnt be for me, I think there is such a thing as having too much space that the place feels almost cavernous when there in only a small family living there.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910958#Comment_118910958

They definitely would have had to keep it at 3 stories due to the existing windows. They did say they weren't planning on doing the third floor yet, but the builder convinced them to do it now. In fairness, I'd agree with the builder. You'd already have to do the majority of the work in terms of structure/stairs etc to the point where finishing the building internally while all the other works were going on made the most sense. It would have been more expensive and disruptive to do it in the future.

recipio

Fair play to them for taking on an old mill. If this was in the UK they would have all kinds of heritage bodies giving advice. The old saying " The time to buy it is when you see it " applies here. If this is their forever home then they were right to do the third floor and get the place watertight. My only suggestion would be to put in a lift and futureproof the building for 'old age.'

GAAcailin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118892525#Comment_118892525

She was very fond of bra tops, even the kids were laughing at the get up of her on National TV..

very hard to believe she did all that work for under 350k

alias no.9

It was nice to see the building rescued, the granite looked spectacular when it was cleaned up. It was essentially a new build inside the old structure which is why there was no stonework visible internally, I expect there is a ventilated void between the old and new for insulation and to prevent damp / mold.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909763#Comment_118909763

yeah it looks like there was a few fireplaces and other features embedded in the walls just covered up. I'd have left some of them exposed and maybe the stonework in the stairwell.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118911628#Comment_118911628

I'm guessing there it was not a listed building so no conservation issues, the outside was maintained anyway.

They would have certainly needed planning though, I would have thought that there would have been planning constraints on the windows and natural slate on the roof etc.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913538#Comment_118913538

I think it was said that there was no preservation order or listing on the building/shell.

I was surprised they got away with the horrible (to my eye) uPVC windows.

It occurred to me a couple of times during the programme when Hugh was suggesting all sorts to her, that surely a lot of stuff would have been nailed down in drawings and with planners in advance of the job starting - was that all just fluff for the programme? Although she did change the master bedroom to the second living room area.

But I'd definitely have thought the planners would have strong opinions on the likes of the windows.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913688#Comment_118913688

I don't think the planners would be too bothered about changes made inside. I'd like to know more about the fire protection in the 3 story stairwell though.

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913688#Comment_118913688

Hugh mentioned that none of the original windows remained so there was nothing there to show what it "should" look like.

Tbh I'm on the fence about conservation. No one gives a toss when a building is falling apart but then suddenly when someone decides to invest in the property there's a whole list of rules to be adhered to. (I'm talking in general)

In this instance when you see the before picture when it was covered in ivy you'd hardly think a building was even there.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913734#Comment_118913734

True, and I saw an article in the Examiner, I think, where An Taisce (or some similar conservation body) were tearing strips off the programme for not maintaining integrity and involving conservation architects and planners - and Hugh made the same point - basically, do you let it fall down, or do it up to suit modern tastes/requirements?

There is definitely a middle ground.

Lots of comments on Twitter about the suspiciously fantastically finished state of the house, when Kelly was reduced to painting it herself (allegedly) and they were all out of money (allegedly) - talk of lots of furniture being loaned for the big reveal, and the sponsors being Dulux heritage paints.....

The same is obvious with Room To Improve - and I really wish they'd be more honest with the final upshot - these series always seem to start off with the best of intentions, and then veer quickly in to the realm of fantasy and fiction.

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910313#Comment_118910313

Thought I heard at the end that they had 5 bedrooms

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913710#Comment_118913710

Yeah, that struck me too. I remember a Grand Designs where a couple did up an old mill building, the council wouldn't let them attach an enclosed staircase to the outside of the building as it was listed, and they had to completely enclose the stairs built inside for fire safety. It resulted in smaller rooms, and the stonework which they kept could no longer be seen on one side of the house

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913836#Comment_118913836

They said that the stairwell was built into the old kiln of the mill, so maybe that was boxed off/separate enough for it to meet regulations?

gipi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913734#Comment_118913734

If you look at the picture posted here earlier today, there are some windows on the top floor of the old building. They were the type of window I thought of when I saw the old mill - Georgian type small panes.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913843#Comment_118913843

Perhaps it was but I'd have like to see how they achieved that. It is costly with fire doors and AOV's etc.