Victorians’ Secret
A couple who built their own replica period red-brick home in Dublin’s Clontarf tell Mark Keenan that once you go neo Victorian, you’ll never go back
FROM 1950s and 1960s semis to a period Victorian and a 1930s bungalow, Dublin couple Lorraine and Rob Greenhalgh have lived in all sorts of houses. But having tried and tested them all, it is now their fervent belief that a new replica Victorian by Dermot Bannon’s builders is your only man.
“We love Victorian homes, the period neoclassical features, the dimensions and layout, the coving and the lovely ornate fireplaces. But after doing one up years ago we also learned that we don’t love the draughty rooms and the cold and the leaky pipes,” says Lorraine Greenhalgh.
So the Greenhalghs moved from their draughty Victorian to a 1930s bungalow on the Clontarf Road in 1991. But after a few years in situ both felt something wasn’t right. Still they were hankering after those 19th century trims and dimensions. “So we hit on an idea. We decided we could knock down the bungalow, build two replica Victorians, sell one to fund the work, then move into the other. That way we could have it all, the period elegance and the modern cosiness.”
Not only did they decide to build a pair of “new” Victorians, and live in both; but the Greenhalghs also opted to design the houses themselves. “We made our sketches of the room layouts and determined what covings and fittings we would need. We picked out the brick. In fairness we had the help of my brother who is a structural engineer.” And for amateur draftspeople, it all worked out remarkably well. Lorraine is also an artist on oil and canvas whose eye for colour has helped in no small amount with the interior design. She has on occasion worked as an interior designer.
But it wasn’t plain sailing. Just as the boom busted they hired their builder. “On the day the work was supposed to start, he didn’t turn up. It later emerged that the firm had gone bust.
“That whole thing held us up for eight months. But in the end we were lucky because otherwise we wouldn’t have had Sugrue.”
Fans of Dermot Bannon’s Room to Improve will know that Sugrue is also Dermo’s on-screen favourite building outfit bar none. The family firm run by father and son, Dan and Cormac Sugrue, have for 40 years has become renowned in north coastal Dublin for its quality new one-off houses, restorations and extensions.
On-screen appearances by Cormac on Room have also tended to cause a big reaction on social media from an appreciative and largely female contingent.
“Once we got Sugrue in, there was a lot of hard work but I can honestly say we had none of those Grand Designs type problems. The first house was finished within six months and the second soon after.” They lived in one, then the other before selling the first one.
That was 11 years ago and now the three Greenhalgh children have grown up. Two have already flown the family nest and one is looking like going soon. “It means that we are reluctantly selling up,” says Lorraine. “It’s too big for us now. Recently the penny dropped with me that I hadn’t
It may have acquired a newish sort of look, but in fact Marsh Farm House, at Mooretown, Co Louth, is classic — and authentic — Victoriana. It was built about 1860 according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, which praises its “mellow brick” and its “attractive halfdormered and sprocketed roof line”.
The newish look comes from the windows, which have been replaced with PVC faux sashes. The place was refurbished some 15 years ago, at a time when fake sash windows were the thing. Once inside, though, you’ll find everything just as it should be by way of period features.
Not least of these is actually the windows which still have their wooden shutters. You’ll also notice the 10ft high corniced ceilings, the open-string stairs, and the fireplaces in marble and cast iron.
Some work remains to be done so there’s scope to enhance its 19th-century-farmhouse charm even more, bearing in mind that it is on Louth County Council’s record of Protected Structures.
It’s 3,161 sq ft on two floors, including a singlestorey extension to the side. That includes five bedrooms — three on the first floor of the main house (one with en suite and dressing room) and two in the extension.
The ground floor of the original wing has a sitting room, formal dining room, living room and kitchen, and there’s an office, playroom and utility in the extension.
It’s close to the shores of Dundalk Bay and has nothing between it and the sea to the east except some well-tended fields.
The original farm was placed on the market separately a few years ago. What remains is 1.35 acres including lawns, an orchard and an original stone coach house.
Marsh Farm is seven kilometres south of Dundalk and about 45 minutes’ drive from Dublin airport.
It’s for sale for €475,000 with Sherry FitzGerald Carroll (042) 933 2173.