Fairway to HEAVEN
Teachers Ally and Wes Carter have found the perfect balance of style and practicality in their ICF (insulating concrete form) self-build in Kilkenny where they live with their three daughters
Awooden framed cottage, our home was originally built in 1965 by an American couple, the Cahills, who fell in love with the surroundings where my late granny and grandad lived. They asked if they could build a house on their land with the agreement that once their time had passed the house would be left to them.
The families became great friends with Mrs Cahill living in the house until her early 90s. Myself and Wes then lived in the cottage for 10 years before we eventually had to demolish it in 2021.
It had long surpassed its sell-by-date and the only option was to knock and rebuild. Our architect Mark Bannon, of PBA Architects, designed our house and MGM Construction built it. We couldn’t be happier with the finished product.
Our home is an insulating concrete form (ICF) build which is relatively new in comparison to a traditional style build. We opted for it due to the speed of the build, plus the blocks are made of polystyrene so it’s not as labour intensive. ICF homes are energy efficient as the blocks provide outstanding insulation.
We started demolition in August 2021 and all exterior works were completed by February 2023.
This is our first home but it’s definitely our forever home. We absolutely love spending time both inside and outside the property. It is very calm and beautiful here, or as calm as it can be with three young children [Indie is two and twins Sienna and Mya are eight months old].
Our home is bright, modern and minimalist except for the playroom which is chaotic, busy and hard to navigate! We have kept all walls white and styled most rooms with black or grey accents which made it easy to pull the overall look together with splashes of colour. There is a nice flow to the house and a big part of this was choosing the same high spec laminate throughout.
Our home is very peaceful and I feel that is as a result of the amount and size of the windows drawing in natural light while framing stunning views. Currently there are three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a balcony, games room, playroom, hidden walk-in pantry and utility. We have future-proofed the house so some rooms will change as our family gets older. For example, the playroom can become a snug or formal dining room and the games room can become an office or bedroom. One of our favourite pieces in the house is the vintage trunk. In 1963, Mr and Mrs Cahill made a trip from New Jersey across the Atlantic with all their belongings in a steamer trunk. We kept it, it lived in the old attic for decades and was in desperate need of repair! Go Go Vintage Furniture based here in Kilkenny brought the trunk back to life and it now takes pride of place in our living room as a coffee table!
Our favourite room is definitely the kitchen. We planned every detail to a fine art wanting to get it right as we always imagined it to be the hub of our home. We love the colour – the black is so striking and modern and looks well whether it’s clean or turned upside down with the mess!
We added in the open drinks cabinet which softened the look of the kitchen. We have ample lighting options which are great to create atmosphere but also practical. A variety of lighting is essential, particularly in the kitchen. You need sharp task lighting in working areas but also soft ambient lighting to create atmosphere. Finally, we have plenty of natural light from the high “morning sun” window to the three motorised Velux skylights.
Of course there are regrets, we made some poor electrical decisions, such as placement of switches and types of external light fittings. And something we didn’t really consider was air conditioning. Modern houses are so well insulated but they really do absorb the heat during the summer time.
Two things we’re glad we didn’t compromise on were the patio and the balcony. We considered leaving the patio until the future to save costs, but our architect advised us to complete it. We spend so much time out on it, looking back now it was a no-brainer and we are delighted it’s completed.
Another big area of debate was the balcony and whether it would block out too much sun. We marked out dimensions and watched the sun over the course of the build to assess it. We always wanted a balcony to take in the views from an elevated level but it has proven even more beneficial as a source of shade.
Our home is bright, modern and minimalist except for the playroom