25 Beautiful Homes Magazine
April 2004

Space Oddity

Donal Gillespie took a small Victorian house and transformed it into a sleek and spacious contemporary home.

Words and photos: Barbara Egan

After five months of searching for the ideal combination of affordability and potential in a property, Donal Gillespie found the red-brick terrace he now lives in. ‘My first impression was that it was very run down,’ he explains, ‘but I wanted something that needed some work, so I could restore it myself.’

Luckily, the house retained many of its original features. ‘I wanted neutral finishes, such as stone and wood,’ explains Donal, ‘and I knew it wouldn’t take a huge amount of work to restore the old timber floors.’ Donal called in a group of architects, Box Architecture, who had interesting ideas involving the use of wood, glass and natural daylight.

‘The brief I gave them was quite open,’ says Donal, who specified floor-to-ceiling glazing. The architect suggested going one step further by ‘blending’ the outside and inside spaces, to lighten the dark interior. He then drew up plans for a kitchen and den/office extension at the rear, opening out onto a courtyard.

The interior walls on the ground floor were removed to give an open-plan space for the sitting room/dining area. The floors on the same level were also taken out and natural stone was installed. ‘It’s Italian Travertine,’ says Donal. ‘It’s fascinating floor finish because it’s full of unique shapes and tiny marine fossils.’ Donal has kept the rest of the décor simple with plain white walls and contemporary furniture with simple lines and natural finishes.

‘The best change I made was to open up the ground floor’ says Donal. ‘The original small rooms were so poky and dark. The open-plan living area is a huge change and a fabulous space to live in. I also love the way that the kitchen and den open out onto a courtyard, it makes a wonderful difference to be able to live partly outdoors in the summer.

The bedrooms are located in the old part of the house, with Donal’s at the front. These retain the original Victorian Proportions and fittings, including the original cast-iron fireplace and the original floorboards.

When it came to the bathroom, Donal liked the idea of a wetroom look. A natural stone floor was laid with timber decking for the shower area, where the water flows to the drainage system underneath. ‘It’s easy to keep, and brings a flavour of the outside into the room, too, which I like,’ says Donal.

‘There are few things I would still like to change,’ says Donal, ‘such as having an open fire in the sitting room. But all in all, I think the end result is fantastic.’

Box Architecture helped create Donal’s house.

www.box.ie