SuSan FurniSS radley
In a time of uncertainty, Kate and Barrie Hogan managed to build their dream family home in Kilkenny – a light-filled and tranquil sanctuary
Dust + Rock
Susan Furniss-Radley is a pilot and the founder of travel and lifestyle brand Dust + Rock.
The brand seeks to solve the problems we all have when it comes to travelling – packing and keeping track of all of our items!
Originally from Dublin, Susan is now living in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
She lives with her husband and three young sons, balancing running her own business with a hectic family life.
Having qualified as a commercial pilot at the age of 22, she spent over 10 years flying commercially for Aer Arann and Stobart Air, becoming a captain in the process.
Of her career, Susan says, “I was a real tomboy growing up and when I turned 16 my parents got me a flight lesson as a gift. I loved the adrenaline rush. I adore flying aircrafts, there is such a feeling of satisfaction. I wasn’t academically strong in school and I feel lucky that I found a career in aviation as I was never suited to an office job.”
This experience in the skies led to her first business idea and, in 2018, Susan decided to leave her flying career to focus on bringing The Wrist Pocket to market.
She told RSVP, “Dust + Rock grew organically as a direct result of the idea for the Wrist Pocket (a pouch designed to fit all your essentials while travelling that attaches to your wrist with a safety strap), which came to me as I was travelling as a commercial pilot. I was thinking especially of women, the need to hold our passports close and safe, to keep everything on hand but not in hand. I also saw a gap in the market to create something that was not only functional but also stylish.”
Susan has a passion for innovation, for products that make life and travel easier.
Her aim is to bring Dust + Rock to a global audience, producing products to give women more freedom in their busy lives. She has continued to add products to her offering and earlier this year launched her Luxury Travel Cubes which sold out in the first month. The cubes are sturdy and functional, and help easily compartmentalise all of your items in your suitcase, and actually allow you to fit more in there as each cube compacts the clothing slightly. She is also working on multiple new products for the coming months!
While we only bought the site for our home in 2019, Barrie had been shown it years earlier and fell in love with the location. It’s set in the countryside, but just 10 minutes from Kilkenny city so we have the best of both worlds.
It was a bit of a process as it took two attempts for planning to be approved, before we ended up changing the design slightly so we then had to resubmit the alterations.
Then Covid happened before we had even started the build. Luckily, we weren’t too badly hit with price increases as our contractor saw what was coming down the line and was prepared. We were exceptionally lucky with our builders, Gay Doyle
Construction, and every supplier we worked with.
It was 18 months from the start of the build until we moved in in April 2022, and while we had savings, we were in the fortunate position to be able to move in with my parents for the duration of the build. That was our biggest saving in today’s climate and something we would highly recommend if it’s an option.
Barrie’s dad did the electrical work on the house for us. Without our parents’ support, building our home would not have been possible and we are very grateful to both sides for this.
To me, our home is a safe, light-filled, tranquil space to escape from the craziness of the outside world. It features four bedrooms, three bathrooms and one WC, an open-plan kitchen, dining area with a living room just off of this and also an office.
Since I was a little girl I always wanted my own walk-in wardrobe, so that was high on my list of priorities, as well as a big open-plan kitchen and dining area plus a sunken living room to give that cosy feeling. Barrie just wanted a modern, comfortable home with a big garden!
Ultimately the kitchen is the favourite room in the house for both of us. It was created by Sexton and Sons, and we invested a good part of our budget here, as it’s the centre of our home, the most utilised space and will be for years to come. It is simply top class. We are in our home 16 months now and I still stare at it, I love it so much.
There will always be small things that you would do differently. For me, it’s the placement of wall lights. I wish they were further out from the beds and in line with switches and sockets in certain rooms.
I would also say live in the space before you decide on any key interior decisions because in the lead up to moving in you get hit by major decision fatigue and you could end up making the wrong choice on something very important down the line. But, ultimately, I couldn’t be happier. To this day, I still can’t believe this house is ours, we are forever grateful and very proud of all we have achieved.