Contemporary house has a rustic feel helped by the existing owners love for oak, writes Trish Dromey.
Naming it for their favourite Neil Young song, the owners of Harvest in Lisnagry blended classic with contemporary and added some rustic features to create a very elegant home.
While building their 3,400sq ft property in 2009, the couple set their hearts on some oak features which are not at all typical of modern builds. These include a sweeping curved staircase as well as three medieval looking round headed doors in the hallway which were designed to look like church doors.
The couple’s love affair with oak continued throughout the house — all the doors are oak as are many of the floors.
Rustic touches include some redbrick walls and the hand painted country style kitchen while the bathroom with marble tiling and a Jacuzzi bath is distinctly contemporary.
Features such as sandstone fireplaces give it a classic look, as do the chandeliers, ornate mirrors and period style furniture which includes a four poster bed.
Getting the curved oak staircase in the hallway to look exactly the way the couple wanted didn’t prove easy.
“It took a long time to find someone to make it. The curved staircase and curved wall had to line up exactly so there was a lot of measuring and re-measuring,” reveals the lady of the house, a yoga teacher who did most of the decorating.
They asked for open plan spaces with a circular flow. Setting out to mix contemporary with rustic, the couple prioritized heat along with oak features.
“We spent a lot of money on insulation. The house has a B2 rating and is very warm”.
Leading in to the grand, marble-tiled front hallway with the curved staircase, is a doorway with a fanlight and side panels, which shows a definite Georgian influence.
Inside the hallway, the first round-headed doorway opens into a spacious oak floored living room with a sandstone fireplace and an elaborate light fitting.
From here, a set of double oak doors leads through into a second, very similar living room which also has a sandstone fireplace and a round headed oak door.
Beyond the second living room at the rear of the house is large dining room/ sun lounge. The dining section is rustic with redbrick walls and antique style lighting while the sunroom with large windows and angular furniture looks contemporary.
The kitchen /breakfast room has white hand painted country style units with granite worktops in addition to a grey timber topped centre island overhung by copper pans. Rustic touches include some redbrick walls, and a brick fireplace with a stove.
Other ground floor rooms include a study with a round headed oak door as well as a long utility room and a guest WC.
At the top of the curved staircase is a spacious galleried landing with a chandelier and period style furniture. The classic influence is strong in the master bedroom with has a sandstone fireplace and a large four poster bed but also a modern en suite and a modern balcony with countryside views.
At the front of the house is an ultra modern bathroom which has a raised Jacuzzi bath, marble tiling and contemporary fittings.
There are three additional bedrooms, two of which share a Jack and Jill bathroom.
Outside, Harvest has more than an acre of lawned gardens bounded by trees and accessed through electronic wrought iron gates.
A graveled driveway leads to a patio area with neatly trimmed low hedging and the front entrance. To the rear, there’s a patio and to the side a timber structure housing a hot tub.
The property is located 5km from Lisnagry village the property, 9km from Castleconnell and 13km from Limerick.
Guiding the four bed detached home and its 1.2 acre site at €630,000, Geoffrey de Courcy of Property Partners de Courcy O’Dwyer it is exceptionally well finished.
“This is an ideal family home for a trade-up buyer from Limerick — the high quality finish is a strong selling point, properties of this calibre are rare.”
VERDICT: An elegant mix of classic and contemporary
Lisnagry, Co Limerick
Price: €630,000
Size: 315sq m (3,400sq ft)
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4
BER: B2
