New Build and Renovation at once

WhiskeyFY24

Hi all,

We had always planned to build on family land and recently had a discussion with my parents about doing this which they were fully supportive of. Now they have approached us to take over the home house and in turn build them a smaller 3 bed bungalow a couple of hundred metres away on family land.

The home house is a fine old farmhouse and my wife and I would be the 4th Generation to live in it. We are extremely flattered and proud to be offered this and from a sentimental point of view we want to do it. However, being realistic, we think the costs would be astronomical and pretty much out of our range;

• The home house while lovely and cosy is quite expensive to run and maintain and therefore would need improvements/upgrades to heating, insulation, windows throughout etc.
• As with all old farmhouses, there have been multiple additions over the years and therefore the layout and design is pretty unconventional and doesn't take advantage of spectacular views from the locality - this would require a sizable renovation to make it the home we want.
• My parents have asked us to build them a 3 bed bungalow which would suit them now at their age.

We both think that while it would be lovely to move in and add to the rich history of the farmhouse, it just wouldn't be feasible/possible that we could build and renovate at the same time.

Would anyone have had experiences of something similar? What is the best/most economically friendly way to navigate through this? Any advice?

Thanks

houseyhouse

I think your best bet would be to contact an architect for an initial meeting. Usually these are a couple of hundred euros and they’ll then do up a fee proposal which will give you an idea of the cost.

There was a family on Room to Improve who did something similar in Wicklow , I believe. I think the home house was on the show last year and the parents’ house this year.