That’s a bonza house, mate
Dermot’s new show features homes that couldn’t be improved
CELEBRITY architect Dermot Bannon is back on our screens next week with a four-part series showcasing some of the world’s most amazing homes.
From snowy Sweden to sunny Sydney, viewers and home makeover enthusiasts are in for an architectural treat.
But Dermot Bannon’s Incredible Homes is not all about just bricks and mortar. In the first episode, Bannon tries his hand at surfing in Australia. But while he’s a dab hand with a set of plans, he finds himself at sea as he attempts to catch some waves.
Bannon also drops into The Doss House bar, which was formerly an opium den in Sydney and has been restored by Colm O’Neill, from Waterford, and his business partner Eoin Daniels.
Among the other amazing homes he visits is Cabbage Tree House, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Designed by Peter Stutchbury, the cave-like house, with its outdoor bath and breathtaking views, is home to Jan and Graeme Page. The 200 square metre house sits on 20,000 square metres of rainforest. A family of koala bears, a three-metre python, lizards and wallabies live in the back garden.
In that city he also visits Indigo Slam, the home of the elusive and enigmatic Judith Nielson, a multi-millionaire art collector and philanthropist, who named the house after a crime novel she has yet to read
Dermot joins Judith at a dining table that seats 60 people and he, shall we say, drools at the custom made furniture that fills the cathedral-like home.
Viewers of other episodes may also be a tad envious at the other half’s multi-million euro pads and piles.
There is a city mansion worth €34million in London’s upmarket Mayfair and an isolated log cabin in snowy Sweden.
Room to Improve has been a ratings smash for RTÉ, with bumper numbers tuning in every Sunday to see Dermot making over homes around the country.
The show’s most-watched episode was featured singer Daniel O’Donnell and his wife Majella renovating their Donegal home.
Bannon is also currently renovating his own home in Drumcondra, on Dublin’s northside.