- 6/25/2025
The Great House Revival episode 5 2025
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:01Our past is alive in our old buildings.
00:05They speak of our history and offer solid solutions for today's housing needs.
00:12I'm following restorers as they battle through the good, the bad,
00:19and the awful challenges of rebuilding ruins to create homes fit for the future.
00:30High on the slopes of the valley of the River Bandon in West Cork,
00:38weathered by the winds, sits the Rock House.
00:42No one can recall exactly when this old farmhouse was built,
00:47but it has lain empty for five years,
00:50and the barns, yard, and the building itself are now in a sorry state of disrepair.
00:56It's January 2023, and I'm here to meet the brave couple who bought this place two weeks ago, just before Christmas.
01:07Local teacher Grace Cotter, who grew up just across the river,
01:11and her landscaper husband John, who hails from distant East Cork.
01:16Good morning!
01:21Hi, welcome to West Cork.
01:23Thank you very much.
01:25Lovely to meet you.
01:26Very nice to meet you.
01:27Nice to meet you.
01:28How are you?
01:29Very, very good.
01:30So you're obviously doing a bit of work to it.
01:33There's plenty to be done.
01:34So tell us now, how'd you find it?
01:35I'm a West Cork girl, John's East Cork, and the initial decision was we were moving east,
01:41until John happened upon the ad here, just randomly, and I couldn't believe it.
01:47John's heart all of a sudden was set on West Cork and this house, and I was thrilled.
01:51Just like that?
01:52Just like that.
01:53It is actually our dream house, it's kind of what we always wanted.
01:55We love the spot, it's only 25 minutes to Cork City, Grace's parents are 10 minutes away,
02:00and the house itself is an old farm building with ramshackle outhouses.
02:05Definitely ramshackle.
02:08They plan to make this green eyesore a home for themselves and children Sophia and Everly.
02:15Also, they have a new baby on the way.
02:17And how much do you pay for it?
02:26240,000.
02:27I had an apartment in the all in East Cork that I was able to sell.
02:30We sold Grace's house in Douglas as well, so we were able to scrape together just enough to buy the house.
02:35We only closed the sale two weeks ago.
02:37So the original plan was to connect the two buildings with some sort of glass atrium,
02:41but with that in mind we were going to keep the conservatory that you see on the side of the house.
02:44Every tradesperson that's been here has said it's not really salvageable that they'll conservatory.
02:49What a shame.
02:51We're currently discussing doing up the barn first and moving in there while we do up the main house.
02:56The house and barn covers 300 square metres, and every single square centimetre requires clearing and fixing.
03:05So did you have the place cleared or was it cleared for the sale?
03:09John did a bit of work before Christmas, he had two and a half days on a digger.
03:12This is your handy now, John.
03:14Not too bad.
03:15Well let's go in there then.
03:17John's skills would be put to the test here.
03:21I've seldom seen a house that needs quite so much fixing.
03:26So I look around and it looks like a horror session.
03:31Particularly all your shutter boxes which would have been here are gone.
03:34The cows have been in, I see cow pats. How long has the house been vacant?
03:39Not as long as you'd think.
03:41Is it five years?
03:42It's only five to seven years, something like that.
03:44So it went backward fairly fast.
03:47And if you're in blackberries?
03:49In the house?
03:51Yeah, we're keeping those.
03:53Did you get into the house now before you bought it physically?
03:55Oh we did.
03:56We came a good few times.
03:57We came a good few times and showing family and that kind of thing.
04:00Everyone was horrified.
04:01Yeah.
04:02We saw the bigger picture.
04:03You saw the potential.
04:04Yeah, instantly.
04:06It was love at first sight with the house and no matter what anyone said or anyone's reactions to the place, we really do love it.
04:12We've only owned it for two or three weeks, so we're meeting tradesmen, people are bouncing ideas off us, people are telling us no, this plan you had is not going to work, would you think about this instead?
04:22So yeah, we're still kind of feeling it out.
04:26All right, come on.
04:28Let's have a mooch.
04:30The worn wooden stairs leads to five bedrooms.
04:34I just love this staircase.
04:37Look at it.
04:39Lots of stairs for children to fall down.
04:41It's great.
04:43Some of the upstairs rooms are lined with more beautiful wood, but others are filled with monstrous heaps of ratchet bedding and are all steadily falling to pieces.
04:56The roof more than likely has to come off.
04:58Right.
04:59That's job number one.
05:00And then change the windows.
05:02What type of windows?
05:04We haven't really, like, colour is all we've discussed really.
05:09And what colour are they?
05:10We don't know actually, no.
05:11Charcoal.
05:12Charcoal.
05:13Charcoal.
05:15So it's very architectural colour.
05:17Yeah.
05:19Architectural is not the term that matches with this plain building for now.
05:24It can be hard to appreciate the character and simple beauty of a house like this when it's in such a sad state of disrepair.
05:34You obviously see quite a bit of damage on the wall.
05:36Yeah.
05:37And then down here you've taken out a bit of the floor and you've got tons of woodworm.
05:42Yes.
05:43Like, really extensive.
05:45If the wooden joists, lats and stairs need to go, Grace and John could be left with nothing more than the walls.
05:53In this house, you have to rewire, re-plumb, put in heating.
06:00So there's a lot of work in this house.
06:03There is.
06:04You know, you better get it all perfect.
06:06I know.
06:07Five of us in a mobile home for...
06:09Oh, you're in a mobile home?
06:10Yeah, yeah.
06:11Where?
06:12Just in Grace's parents' place.
06:13Goodness, you take on a lot, don't you?
06:15I know.
06:16We're crazy.
06:17Yeah.
06:21The rock house comprises the original building, laid out in traditional farmhouse style as two rooms around a staircase.
06:33Stuck on the back is a block-built two-storey, 90s extension, doubling the size of the house.
06:43Grace and John plan to have their sitting room and dining room at the front, while a short corridor to the back will link the kitchen, utility, boot room and toilet.
06:54Upstairs, the return, and a jumble of short staircases lead to two junk-filled bedrooms to the rear and three small wooden wall bedrooms to the front.
07:05They're still debating exactly what will be what and where will be where.
07:12But the new layout will provide three bedrooms, a study, a bathroom and a hot press.
07:18To make the most of the stunning south-westerly views over the valley, they had hoped to retain the 1990s sunroom at the side of the house, but have been advised it's unsaveable.
07:30Work may be needed on the roof, which is an unusual pitch due to the tacked-on extension.
07:37They also intend to convert the large stone barn alongside, possibly to live in while they finish the house.
07:44Restoring this house is a mammoth project.
07:50But their stone barn is windowless, largely roofless and knee-deep in farm mud.
07:57It's a huge project in itself.
07:59So your budget on this project is?
08:03We're hoping around £300,000 for both buildings.
08:06OK. For both buildings?
08:07Yeah.
08:08OK. So, in my experience, and having walked around with the period, the building behind you, because of its condition, you'd see no change out of £400,000.
08:17And, to be totally honest, in my opinion, between septic tank, getting your road up here, doing your electrics, your wiring, your plumbing, the world and his wife, your £300,000 will be gone.
08:31And you need to put all your resources into getting your home.
08:38And it should be in the original house.
08:41For me, it's been terrific to meet Grace and John as they start their journey on these amazing buildings, both the house and that stone barn.
08:52They have a limited budget of £300,000 and John wants to do both buildings.
08:59But, in my opinion, that's not possible or practical.
09:02And, therefore, their resources have to be spent doing the house.
09:07So they need to take time, think about what they're going to do, get it right and get on with it.
09:14And they most certainly have to get on with it because they're living in a mobile home with two children and a baby on the way.
09:24Obviously, it's disappointing to hear that, you know, he doesn't think that we'll manage to get the barn with our money.
09:32But it still doesn't hurt to dream and to imagine and to hope.
09:35And, you know, we only have the place two weeks. We're only learning as we go.
09:40And, you know, it might not happen, but I'm an optimist, forever the optimist.
09:45Even though our vision isn't fully formed right now, we don't know whether we're going to be doing a small extension,
09:51whether we're just going to be fixing the main house or whether we're going to be fixing the main house and the barn.
09:54But for now, we do need to push on and we do need to just get our ducks in a row, get our quotes in,
10:01get our mortgage application finalised and get all of our grant applications done.
10:06So that's priority number one for now.
10:10With his family about to expand beyond their mobile homes,
10:14John wants to get started as soon as possible working evenings and weekends to fit around his day job in landscaping.
10:21It's less than a fortnight since my visit and he's already back on site with his tool bag and his brother Garoad to get started on ripping out the hollow wooden walls.
10:33We don't like the tongue and groove, so we're not going to keep it.
10:36We're going to take it down, we're going to get a nice plaster finish on it, have it nice and crisp.
10:40I would be sympathetic to keeping some of the architecture, but I draw the line at these tongue and groove walls.
10:45They're not a special architectural feature as far as I'm concerned, so that's not staying.
10:49Do you want to maybe start on that wall?
10:53I have my brother Garoad giving a hand today.
10:55He's just here to get stuck in and give me a hand and just be an extra pair of hands and an extra pair of eyes on the job for the day.
11:01I always kind of saw John as investing in a place like this. It always seemed to be his kind of way of doing things, you know?
11:07I mean, it's something that I wouldn't even dream of doing.
11:08My job definitely gives me some of the more basic skills I'd need for the likes of this.
11:13Like, some people will look at a tent on pile of rocks and they go, oh my God, how am I going to move that?
11:19But I can crack into that and get it done reasonably okay, and I suppose, yeah, I don't find it that daunting.
11:24The walls are gone, but some parts of this house's derelict identity are still very much alive.
11:31Yuck. A rat's nest.
11:35Nothing deters this pair, from rodents to my reasoning. I suggested they restrict their project to the house alone.
11:43Yeah, that was the biggest disappointment for me when Hugh said that the barn was something that we shouldn't even consider doing.
11:49But having spoken ourselves, we do feel as though we're going to plough on.
11:54You know, I kind of want to almost prove you wrong and maybe get as much done as we can for the money that we have.
12:00So we'll just have to hope for the best.
12:02We're kind of doing the dirty jobs right now. It's a lot of levelling, it's a lot of clearing of rubbish.
12:06It's just, yeah, donkey work really for now until the more intricate stuff starts.
12:11John is determined to make headway, but the bank has asked them to resubmit documents
12:16so they can't draw down their mortgage.
12:20For now, any work must be done with his bare hands and with help from the family.
12:25It's nice to see if the space cleared out and it's really good to have an idea of how much space is there.
12:31What we're going to do with it, I'm not certain.
12:34My suggestion of locking down their layout plans is on the long finger.
12:39As January comes to a close, with clearing in the house making an impact, the family face a sad blow.
12:50Grace has had a miscarriage.
12:53Still, they are determined to continue to make the Rock House their family home.
12:58I really want to be involved in any way I can, whether it's picking up or bringing coffees or whatever way.
13:07I just, I love being here on site.
13:09We've had a tough few months. Life in general has been difficult.
13:13I'm just taking it one small step at a time and it'll all come good in the end.
13:18It's nice to be able to say I did something.
13:20Today, the sunroom is coming down.
13:23Grace and John have been advised that it's beyond repair.
13:26The sunroom is never built correctly, so the pitch on the roof is wrong, so it always let moisture in.
13:32It's a shame because it has amazing, kind of 180 degree views, but it's too rough.
13:38We just have to take it down, so that's the plan of attack for today.
13:41It's a bit gung ho and it's not exactly fancy, technical work.
13:45It's more sledgehammer and wheelbarrow kind of work, but that's basically the process.
13:49Near to there come day.
13:57It's vital basically that I do as much of this work myself as I possibly can.
14:02A builder would charge a lot for the type of work that we're doing today, so it is quite important that we can do a lot of this stuff ourselves.
14:06John, definitely, he's fantastic. He's doing his own full-time work and still coming here and doing what he can on the weekends.
14:15We're doing what we can to support him and I'm rowing in when I can, but there's not a whole pile I can do.
14:21I'm at home minding the girls and I suppose I'm supporting him in that way.
14:23But fair play to him. He's just, God, he's amazing. There's no doubt that he'll see this done.
14:30Oh my God. I've just, I'm so...
14:36Turned on. It's okay to say it.
14:40With love in the air, the sunroom is down at last.
14:44John has found a way to make something good of the remnants.
14:47My thought was it would be a lovely walled patio.
14:51I actually like the fact that the stone is from the quarry here, which is why it's called Rock House.
14:56So it'll be nice to keep a feature of the stone from the quarry as well.
15:00So, and I completely trust John's vision on this.
15:04I was initially sad to see the sunroom going, but this sounds like an exciting plan.
15:09Using his knowledge as a landscaper, John now plans to reuse the site's resources to bolster their finances.
15:19You can actually get a lot of money for scrap metal.
15:21We had a pile of scrap metal on site here that I had considered to be total waste and rubbish.
15:25I actually got €950 for it and it was picked up by a truck.
15:28So it's definitely worth taking five minutes to separate those out from the footings
15:33because they are actually worth a bit of money.
15:35While progress moters on with the clearing, work on the barn has come to a halt.
15:41Hugh's advice was just to focus on the house and not the barn.
15:46We're probably going to switch the focus more to what he recommended and just get the house done.
15:51I think the house has to be a priority one at this point because I guess if it was just me and Grace,
15:57we'd probably be happy in the mobile for possibly three years, but with the two kids, it's not ideal.
16:02We need to get out of the mobile, really.
16:03I don't want to have another winter or two winters in the mobile, so that's why the push is on now to get us into the house.
16:13It's September 2023 and space in their mobile home is set to get tighter.
16:19Grace is expecting a baby in January.
16:22Which do you prefer, slugs or snails?
16:24I don't like snails.
16:26You like snails, do you?
16:28Yeah.
16:30The financial pressure that was eased by moving into the mobile is enormous.
16:34The mobile home cost is €7,500.
16:36So we really have saved approximately €40,000 by not having to rent for two years, you know.
16:43I would recommend to anyone, if you have the space for a mobile home, if you can do it, the mobile home is the way to do it.
16:49It's the only way to do it and not financially cripple yourself.
16:52We moved into the mobile in August of last year, so we're in here in two months or so.
16:59We always knew we were going to be here for over a year.
17:03I don't know if we really want to admit to ourselves how long we're going to be here, but hopefully we're seeing the end.
17:09This will be our last winter.
17:11It's not been unenjoyable.
17:12We have had a lovely time, but the novelty is wearing off.
17:16It is a means to an end and who would want to be paying the extortionate rent that people are stuck paying in Ireland at the moment?
17:23They now have a hard deadline to hit.
17:26So we have a few little fires under us at the moment.
17:29Obviously Grace is 25, 26 weeks pregnant, so baby due in mid-January.
17:34We don't want to be bringing a newborn into the mobile for any longer than is completely necessary.
17:38But we're kind of putting pressure on ourselves anyway, because we really want to get out of the mobile.
17:47With October comes progress.
17:49They've been greenlit for their mortgage to fund the project.
17:53With cash flow at last, John shells out and hires a digger.
17:58So the plan for today, I had the digger in digging trenches, getting the rainwater pipes and that in the ground.
18:03So as I have it, I'm going to take down the mobile.
18:05You can see the background.
18:06The old mobile on site provides an opportunity for John to take out his frustration about mobile living,
18:14while also making fast progress.
18:17There's also a couple of large block walls behind it that were originally some sort of shed.
18:21Going to take all of that down.
18:22So it's about crushing the mobile and a bit of rubble collection.
18:26It's definitely coming down easy.
18:27Yeah, easier than I thought.
18:29So yeah, the 10 tonne machine makes short work of it.
18:32So I'll plow on anyway.
18:34John's happy toppling walls outside, but work on the house itself is on hold.
18:40The unskilled work I can do myself phase is pretty much drawing to a close.
18:46In terms of timeframe, I would say we're definitely behind.
18:49Trying to find tradesmen has been unbelievably difficult.
18:53Job number one in the house is a new roof.
18:54We can't really do anything else until the roof gets changed because there's a lot of water coming in.
18:58Can't put in new floors, can't do the electrics until that's done.
19:01By mid-October, the rest of the financing falls into place.
19:06We were approved for the Derelict Home Grant.
19:08We've also been approved for the Well Grant.
19:10So that's about €76,000 worth of grants, which makes a huge difference.
19:14The only downside to being approved for the grant, kind of before we're ready to really crack on with a vengeance,
19:19is we have 13 months to have the house livable.
19:22We were told by the inspector that came out, basically habitable means he can turn on a light switch,
19:27he can flush a toilet, and there's a room that can be slept in.
19:30So, yeah, it's slightly worrying.
19:34With tradespeople hard to find, and the ticking clock of the grant deadline hanging over them,
19:40John has begun to remove the green render.
19:43And, even more challengingly, has decided to take off the roof himself with the aim of replacing it fast.
19:51So we're about 10 months in now. The first months were very, very slow.
19:55Up until now, it's been me scratching around the place, renting a digger here and there.
19:59Our new roof is sitting here on the ground in front of the house.
20:02So finally, we're looking at getting some serious work done.
20:05It is going to be pretty much full steam ahead for the next few months.
20:08But Storm Babbitt has other plans.
20:13Work is on hold, with the house open and exposed for three long weeks.
20:19They're stuck in the mobile.
20:21The baby's due in three months, and the grant deadline is looming.
20:25Grace and John have a long road to travel before this troublesome building can be called home.
20:38Ten months since they bought the place, John is removing the remaining dodgy cement render from the house's exterior.
20:45See, what we've decided to do is we're going to expose all of the stone.
20:48My next job after this will be to go along all of these joints and gouge them out,
20:52and then all of the insulation will come from the inside.
20:55So it should look pretty good when it's all brushed up.
20:57Everybody we've shown pictures of it thinks the stone looks amazing, basically.
21:01So the old green elephant is slowly disappearing.
21:05By November, the green elephant render is a thing of the past, exposing the stone walls,
21:12and the new roof is finally in place.
21:15Now the building's sealed from above, I'm visiting to talk next steps.
21:21Gosh, it's great to come up here. You've done huge work, Grace and John, huh?
21:25We're delighted. Slow and steady. The roof going on was huge.
21:28Yeah, it was a game changer.
21:29It means I can really do things inside, stud walls and plasterboarding and things like that
21:32that couldn't have been done before, you know?
21:34You know, the first time I saw this house, I have to tell you, I thought it was an ugly duckling.
21:39What are you doing now with the external stonework?
21:41The hope and the dream is to keep the stonework exposed and do all of the insulation from the inside.
21:46Ah, look, you're absolutely mad. You just need to render it.
21:50The house was never built for the stone to be exposed.
21:55Having no exterior render can bring problems with heat and damp.
22:00I'm really happy with the idea of rendering the outside of the house, you know, with endless stone, really.
22:07What are your windows going to look like?
22:09The discussion is, do you want to stand outside your house looking at the house looking beautiful with sash windows,
22:13or do you want to look from inside out to the beautiful view?
22:16And that's where I'm going to spend the majority of my time.
22:19So what I want is to look out at unspoiled views.
22:23So I'm leaning towards my view out being more important.
22:27As well as wanting unusual windows, which open outwards from the centre,
22:32Grace is hoping for them to be in aluminium.
22:37I'm pushing hard for not aluminium.
22:40Why?
22:41Because it's £8,000 more expensive.
22:43You just go for it.
22:44OK.
22:45UPVC windows are cheaper than aluminium, but there are more colour options with the latter, and they last longer.
22:54I'm willing to cut things to get certain things right, and the windows I'm not willing to bend on.
22:59I really am a firm believer of buy cheap, buy twice.
23:03You'll never change the windows.
23:04You're only going to do it once, so you must do it correctly.
23:08The multiple choices for windows don't end there.
23:11They had considered an architectural grey for their frames, but I believe green windows could be more in line with their increasingly attractive period house.
23:22I've suggested this green, which is called a heritage green.
23:27If you go down to the village, there are two buildings which are just done up.
23:31Beautiful render with a sand in it.
23:33Go down to the village and hold them up against the wall.
23:37Grace and John had straightened in Shannon to weigh up which window colour will match the sand lime render.
23:43So, it's the mint grey.
23:49This is a definite no one in it.
23:51Well, that's Hughes green.
23:53That's Hughes green, yeah.
23:54It's not bad.
23:55It's not bad.
23:56I like it.
23:57I think it's fair to say, Hughes right.
24:01Gosh darn it.
24:04OK, fantastic.
24:06Well, colour is my thing after all.
24:10But, back at the house, I want to talk to them about layout.
24:15There are no planning restrictions on the house interior, but I believe their current plan doesn't make the best use of the space and light.
24:24You'll naturally orientate yourself towards the sun in the evening, and you'll end up yearning to be in this area.
24:33See that blue wall behind you?
24:35Get rid of that.
24:36So, you link this room with next door.
24:39But, I actually believe that should be your sitting room.
24:43Your kitchen dining is here, and that front room actually is where all your utility, your downstairs toilet and your booth room is.
24:52I do like the idea of what is currently three rooms essentially becomes one.
24:57Yeah.
24:58And it becomes the actual living space.
25:00It is a lot to think about.
25:01It just changes absolutely everything.
25:04Yeah.
25:05I think it's very important they resolve the issues of the layout and where the different rooms go.
25:11Because until they do that, they really can't make any more progress.
25:19Christmas proves to be a non-event, with little to no break for John.
25:24The screed and underfloor heating pipes go in, and he's barely away from the site.
25:30I am absolutely knackered, but I kind of feel like for the first time the finish line is in sight.
25:39But his work continues to save them thousands.
25:44Before the finish line can be reached, their baby is due within a month.
25:49It's January 2024, and I'm keen to give them both a break from midwinter mobile life, before new baby parenting kicks in.
26:00I've brought them to John's home turf, East Cork, to look around a 19th century stone farmhouse with a very similar layout to their own.
26:10Stone work is awesome, isn't it?
26:14Beautiful.
26:15Yeah.
26:17Now look at this.
26:19Beautiful room.
26:21It's beautiful.
26:24So this is the blue room.
26:27Oh wow.
26:29It's absolutely gorgeous.
26:32So the reason I brought you here is to inspire you and say, this is what your home will look like.
26:42The reason that I love this house is the decor.
26:45Yeah.
26:46Yeah, it's beautiful.
26:47They've done a really nice job.
26:48It's gorgeous.
26:49Like you'd love to move in here.
26:50In fact, why don't we say that to the homeowners?
26:52Just for a while.
26:53We'll just swap.
26:54Swap houses.
26:56Since our last chat, Grace and John have updated their layout plans.
27:00I've asked them to bring them along today.
27:03They've taken on my suggestions, but I have one more new idea.
27:09Funnily enough, because of the shape of this, you may well put in a pantry in there.
27:15Oh yeah.
27:17A pantry.
27:18It's my final dream.
27:20It's her dream.
27:21I've always wanted a pantry.
27:22You can't not allow her to have her dream.
27:24Probably a bit small.
27:25No, it's perfect.
27:26It would be perfect.
27:27Yeah.
27:28Hugh says it's perfect.
27:29John has been overruled.
27:31And I'm to blame.
27:32This today has been amazing to be able to see something that is so close to what we have
27:38and what it could be.
27:39And I love the colours.
27:40I love everything.
27:41It's beautiful.
27:42Please God, it comes together as beautifully as this.
27:44Although it looks like thousands of other plain 19th and 20th century farmhouses around the country,
27:57the Rock House appears on a Georgian map which was funded by noblemen and gentlemen to map the roads of Ireland.
28:03Fitting in all they can before the baby comes, Grace and John are meeting Archivist Nicola Morris to find out about Rock House's history, upriver at the 18th century Innish Shannon House Hotel.
28:20This is the earliest reference that we found to Rock House.
28:24Oh, it's there.
28:25So that was surveyed in 1777.
28:31And this little house here denotes a nobleman's or gentleman's seat.
28:38It looks like Rock House.
28:39Nice.
28:40Grace and John's new home is listed not as a farmhouse, but like the building they're in as a gentleman's residence.
28:50So you can see for Rock House, there's a name beside it, the Gilman family.
28:56Then in 1837, there's a publication by a gentleman called Samuel Lewis.
29:02It's called the Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.
29:05So he identifies Rock House as a gentleman's seat of the Gilmans and he describes it as being situated on the side of a romantic glen in the centre of some highly improved grounds.
29:16I am so impressed. It's really fantastic. I had no clue.
29:21I probably always thought of it as a farmhouse, whereas this has given it serious grandeur.
29:27Henry Gilman, described as a gentleman, improved the land and the house before putting it up for sale in 1851.
29:36You're the lady of the manor.
29:37I am the lady of the manor.
29:39So this is the brochure that they created for the sale of Rock House in 1851.
29:45Part of the brochure was a map.
29:47OK.
29:48You have Rock House, the buildings and the outbuildings and so on.
29:52It's totally different.
29:54And you can even see how the land would have been laid out again, that kind of the element of ornamental gardens and so on.
30:00Oh, it's such a pretty we don't still have the ornamental gardens.
30:03I would imagine either that one that's kind of running horizontal or that one that's running horizontal is the barn that's there at the moment.
30:12It's so familiar.
30:13It's a mirror.
30:14Yeah.
30:15Yeah.
30:16So the 1901 census declared there was 13 rooms in the building.
30:22But in 1911, there was only seven rooms in the building.
30:26And there is notes in the margin saying that the building is in poor repair.
30:30By the early 20th century, the formal gardens and the house itself had fallen into disrepair.
30:37From the time they bought it, Grace and John were able to see beyond the Rock House's junk-strewn tumble-down state.
30:46You know, it's really exciting to feel that we're the next in line in this amazing house.
30:53I love it.
30:54I really genuinely thought we were just buying a beautiful farmhouse and a lovely piece of land.
30:59I just didn't realise we were getting a real piece of history.
31:02It's really so interesting.
31:04Amazing, yeah.
31:05Your gentlewoman's seat.
31:07Absolutely.
31:08How nice would it be to have the riverfrontage still.
31:11And the lovely gardens.
31:13They'll be back all right.
31:17It's February, and the gentleman's residence is taking a step closer to re-emerging in full splendour.
31:24Today, the new aluminium windows go in.
31:28Aluminium is one of the most expensive window types, making this one of their biggest ticket items.
31:34It's important they feel that they have spent wisely.
31:38So, a big day today with the windows going in.
31:41Definitely a milestone job, really.
31:42The house being airtight and, you know, I can do certain things now.
31:46Blasterboard can go up onto stud walls and things like that, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet.
31:50So, it swings and roundabouts.
31:51There's also the €8,000 that the aluminium is costing, which is, yeah, a nice bit extra.
31:56But look, they're going in today. It's a positive day. It's all that matters.
32:00It's not long since he jackhammered off the green render.
32:04But now John may be regretting taking my advice on the window colour.
32:09Looking at all of the frames stacked against the back wall there, I was like, oh, God, it's very green.
32:15The windows are in.
32:17But there's a much more significant new arrival on site today.
32:21Baby Samuel is making his first visit to his future home.
32:26What do you think of your new house?
32:30He's nonplot.
32:32So, we have Samuel. He's finally made his entrance.
32:36He arrived early, unexpectedly, in January, which is fantastic.
32:41Brilliant to be bringing him up to the new house to show him where he's going to be living.
32:45What are your thoughts?
32:49I like it.
32:51It's so not what I had envisaged day one, of course.
32:55No, it's definitely bold.
32:57Sure, it's Hugh's fault if we don't like it anyway, isn't it?
33:00At first, I was scared that I was going to regret this massive decision about the green windows.
33:05Now, green, I love the colour green.
33:07You know, there's definitely no doubt in my mind that, you know, green was a good colour to choose.
33:12I was maybe slightly worried when John sent me a text message last night, a picture message, and the green looked very, very bright.
33:18But in person, it's exactly what we wanted. It's gorgeous.
33:22I was just saying it would have been very awkward, you know, had we hated them.
33:27Well, it is awkward. Yeah.
33:29I kind of hate them.
33:30The colour may have raised questions, but the central opening design, which Grace chose, makes the big spend worthwhile.
33:38Oh, I love it.
33:40Yeah, it's really exactly what we wanted.
33:42Yeah.
33:43With Samuel's arrival, the expanded family have had to move into Grace's mother's house.
33:52Bringing your family a five in on top of your in-laws is not exactly ideal. The mobiles were sardines and I really like.
33:58I urge this pair to pin down layout plans early.
34:02And now that Samuel is here, John spotted an opportunity to create a fourth bedroom in the attic, which Grace had intended to use as storage.
34:12But for it to work, they will need to find a space for stairs for access.
34:17This will involve cutting what was intended as Sophia's bedroom in two.
34:22So it's not something we discussed before, but what would have been bedroom number two, Sophia's room, becomes a little landing living room area.
34:35My initial reaction to John's proposal is maybe a little bit of disappointment that we hadn't discussed, like again, we hadn't discussed this before other things had been put in place.
34:47So now it's a back step, but I think that's part of the nature of renovating a house that maybe the house is kind of speaking to us as we're putting it together.
34:55And, you know, you're starting to see things that might make more sense for our family.
34:58And I suppose all along we were a family of four and maybe psychologically we weren't thinking of this extra person who was going to need space.
35:08But this does make sense for our family.
35:10We'd have to be really, really clever about the storage space for the attic.
35:13Yeah.
35:14It's like, I have a lot of stuff that I planned on putting in there.
35:17We could get a skip as well.
35:19Skip, OK, skip as well.
35:22It's April 2024.
35:24Plasterings underway indoors.
35:27And there's yet more clearing to be done outdoors.
35:31Today it's Saturday and it's his birthday.
35:34But with the grant deadline looming, the tired John can't take the day off.
35:40Happy birthday to you.
35:44Happy birthday to you.
35:48Happy birthday dear John.
35:53Happy birthday to you.
35:56Will you help me blow?
35:58Come on, it's up.
35:59Ready?
36:00Woohoo.
36:01We did it.
36:02Happy birthday.
36:03Like Grace, John's mum and sister appreciate his endless work.
36:10We'll give that to daddy now first.
36:12They're Trojan workers so they've done a great job.
36:15Well, last week, no.
36:16I was done.
36:17The stairs to the attic has been put in since.
36:20And I think it's just transformed the whole place upstairs.
36:23Grace's mum has witnessed the long months of toil.
36:27John has been up here day and night.
36:30You worry about him really because there's no end to the day.
36:33And now with the evenings getting longer, I think he's just dreaming of being up here even longer.
36:37The following day, the long process of rendering the exterior has begun to seal the building in from the elements.
36:45So first layer of plastering is going on today.
36:48Beautiful sunny day for it.
36:49So exciting stuff.
36:50John's relief at working with a team and working fast is palpable.
36:55I've never seen that pump that they're using before, but it's absolutely flying on.
36:59It completely changes the house.
37:01Standing here looking at the house now, it's a totally different house to what we've been looking at for the last 18 months or so.
37:07So I was slightly sad to see the stone go.
37:10The original plan was to have the stone exposed.
37:12But looking at it there, it feels like the house has kind of put its coat on, you know.
37:15It just looks a little bit more snug and a little bit more warm.
37:18We can't really get a sense of the colour yet.
37:20The next layer will be made with a different type of sand.
37:22So it's going to be slightly more yellow than what went on today.
37:25But even when that goes on, you won't really get a sense for a while.
37:28And it will take a while to dry out, you know.
37:30So it'll be a few weeks before we really see if the plaster window combination has worked.
37:36I'm sure it has.
37:37I'm sure it'll be lovely.
37:38In hue we trust.
37:40It's August.
37:41The house is finally rendered.
37:43Second fix has happened inside.
37:45And John can at last begin on making the one-time dumping ground into a landscape.
37:51While John's in his element outside, the pressure's also now on Grace to make the interior work,
38:00with two small children to look after all the while.
38:04You know, I can see the vision.
38:06And I've been collecting bits and pieces over the last two years and, you know, planning colours and furniture.
38:14And as it comes time now to start pulling things out and putting them into the rooms, I'm like, is it going to work?
38:20I've bought things without really knowing the size of rooms. Rooms have changed.
38:24And then basing other decisions on, you know, what I think something looked like.
38:30Or looking at photos and trying to piece a room together.
38:34It's really exciting on one hand, but on another, I'm nervous that have I made the right decisions.
38:41Said the panicked woman.
38:4421 months ago, I first visited John and Grace Cotter at their newly acquired ruinous home, the Rock House, on the banks of the Bandon River in Cork.
39:00The rotting farmhouse, surrounded by junk that gave me the chills back then, has undergone a radical makeover.
39:08What is this pleasing vision I see before me?
39:11A gentleman's residence, in gentle tones of cream and green, in exquisitely landscaped surroundings.
39:22Now, good morning to the Perrier.
39:26Hi Hugh.
39:27How are you? It's lovely to see you.
39:28Lovely to see you.
39:29John, good to see you.
39:30John, lovely to see you.
39:31Welcome back.
39:32What a transformation.
39:33It's like the house on the hill.
39:35Yeah, we got there in the end.
39:36And the colour of the windows is great.
39:38I have to tell you, I feel like I'm in a little bit of France.
39:41A lot of people say that when they come up here, it kind of has a central European, sort of an almost a Swiss.
39:46Look at that view.
39:47Yeah.
39:48Well look, let's get through that door now and enjoy the inside.
39:52My goodness, it's really like walking into a new house, isn't it?
40:01Yeah.
40:02I remember this and it was filthy.
40:04It was cow pats.
40:05Yeah.
40:06The place was falling asunder.
40:07Yeah, it was fairly bad all right.
40:10The cow dung floor is long gone in favour of heritage tiling.
40:15And this spaghetti junction staircase has been lovingly restored.
40:19Super to come in here.
40:21I love the staircase.
40:22I always loved the staircase, the way it peels off in four different directions and it is quite characterful.
40:29I can feel that family is at the heart of this home.
40:33But it's just great and you have a super utility room now, haven't you?
40:37Yeah.
40:38Well, we took your advice on that.
40:39Yeah.
40:40That was a really good decision.
40:41I know it's an odd place to have it, but it works.
40:43Oh, it makes sense.
40:44It's brilliant.
40:45And you've got the lovely window seat.
40:46Yeah, it's beautiful.
40:47Really lovely.
40:48Beyond the utility room, Grace's excellent taste is in full effect in a spectacular bathroom.
40:55Will we go on?
40:56Yeah.
40:57Absolutely.
40:58Let's go.
40:59We head up the quirky stairs to another feature designed to make sense of the space.
41:05A sitting room for grown-ups, eked out of the area housing the new stairs to the converted attic.
41:12With soothing views across the fields for weary parents.
41:17The disappointment for me was losing the conservatory.
41:20But that kind of started the rejigging of the inside.
41:23But then we were missing a second sitting room, you know, with three children.
41:26We felt like we needed somewhere else to sit.
41:28You must know yourself the period to come up here and think of what you've achieved.
41:34And you've got your staircase up to your attic.
41:36Yeah.
41:37And you have a bedroom upstairs.
41:39Yeah.
41:40And who's up there?
41:41The eldest, Sophia.
41:42I'd say she loves it.
41:43She's already organising a friend for Friday.
41:46She can't wait.
41:47Isn't that super?
41:48Yeah.
41:49There's a guest bedroom across the hall.
41:51And at the front of the house, where the wooden walls once hemmed in three small bedrooms.
41:57Everleigh and Samuel now share an adorable nursery bedroom, alongside the family bathroom and Grace and John's elegant spacious bedroom.
42:10The colour scheme in here is great.
42:12Your curtains are fabulous.
42:14Aren't they just?
42:15Yeah.
42:16All of the fabrics were inspired by shirts that you wore during filming.
42:19Ah!
42:20Ah!
42:21Thank you!
42:22Happy to have inspired the curtain fabric, we trot back downstairs to the family sitting room,
42:27with its exposed stone wall celebrating the rock house's name.
42:32But the exterior render allowed them to achieve a great BR rating of A3, showing it can be done.
42:40The sitting room opens into the dining room and kitchen, running across the back of the house,
42:45and showcasing John's spectacular vision of a garden.
42:50You know when you come into a home and you go, it's happy?
42:53Yes.
42:54The pair of you have created a very happy home.
42:57When you come into the home, it's amazing.
42:59I have to tell you, the finish is amazing.
43:02It looks like professional interior decorators were in here.
43:07You've just got the delicate balance of respecting the old house, but having just a complete new, fresh feel to it.
43:15Grace showed her creativity with the impressive design finish in every room.
43:21I did price an interior designer, and I must admit I nearly died when I got the price.
43:26And I said, you know what, I can do it.
43:28And I just started gathering and thinking and marrying things together.
43:33And if you look around like our kitchen tables, again Facebook Marketplace, and the dresser is again a second-hand online purchase.
43:41You've transformed this space, the pair of you.
43:44Was it very stressful? No.
43:47No.
43:48No.
43:49My mum has been amazing.
43:50Grace and I were real partners in the whole process, but we have to give a special mention to Grace's mother as well,
43:55because it would have been near on impossible to do it without her.
43:59So Caroline was absolutely amazing.
44:01When you think about this house was here, what, a hundred and whatever years, 120 years?
44:06Yeah.
44:07You know, now it's going to be here for another 200.
44:09Hopefully, yeah.
44:10They're responsible for that.
44:11Yeah.
44:12But that's terrific.
44:13Beyond the kitchen, the wide terrace, with its continental feel, provides yet more family living space.
44:20John built up the lawn and has planted hundreds of trees on the bank beyond.
44:26Your handiwork as a landscape designer is definitely at the forefront out here.
44:31Yeah.
44:32You know, well, you see, what I find intriguing is you've got old bits and bins.
44:37Yeah.
44:38And you've made them into the most wonderful little piece of sculpture.
44:42Yeah.
44:43Here beneath the beautiful Cornus Cousa tree, at the heart of the newly planted family garden, their miscarried baby is commemorated.
44:52This family's strength and endurance is inspiring.
44:58They are planning to move straight on from completing the house to converting the barn, which I told them to put on hold on my first visit.
45:07Yeah, we were going to do both buildings in conjunction with each other.
45:11But living in a mobile home, Grace being pregnant, we decided to just focus our efforts on the house.
45:17We both gained a lot of skills and knowledge from the house that maybe we would have made mistakes with the barn had we jumped into it.
45:24And we have forever now.
45:26And John can get to work every Saturday now for...
45:29Tomorrow.
45:30There you go.
45:31So you bought the land and the buildings on it for...
45:35240.
45:36240,000.
45:37And your budget to do up the two buildings...
45:41Yeah.
45:42...was how much?
45:43300, we figured.
45:44Right.
45:45And we could have done both buildings to a low standard.
45:48Well, that's your opinion.
45:50How much did this go?
45:51The overall costs came in at 283,000.
45:54But materials for the patio, 8,000 euro worth of slabs, say two and a half grand for other materials.
46:00There's 6,000 euro worth of railway sleepers gone in.
46:03There's 400 tonnes of hard core at 18 euro a tonne.
46:07So, do you know, the house, even though the entire project cost us 283,000 euro, the house probably cost us somewhere in the region of 220, something like that.
46:15Two, but look at the size of the barn, John.
46:17It's only a little.
46:18Look at John and what he can achieve.
46:20Yeah.
46:21I know, well look at what the pair you can achieve.
46:23I may yet have to eat my hat.
46:26And the great thing is as well that now when we recoup our grants, which is the Derelict Homes Grant, which is 70,000.
46:32Great.
46:33And our SEAI Grant, which is 14,000.
46:34Right.
46:35And our Well Grant, which is 6,000.
46:38We're looking at only having spent 187,000 on the house.
46:41That's what's made the house affordable.
46:43Yeah.
46:44Is that fair?
46:45Yeah.
46:46If we had hired a builder and said, make that habitable for us, see in 18 months, it would have probably cost about 600,000 euro.
46:52When I came up here the first time, I was going, oh my God, the don't have a chance.
46:57I have to tell you that I was horrified.
47:00Isn't it extraordinary what you've been able to do?
47:03And not only that, but I love your bathroom downstairs.
47:06Yes.
47:07It's fabulous.
47:08I love it.
47:09Do you know, and I think that that's the moments that are so exciting.
47:12When you open those doors and you go into the bathroom and you go, yes.
47:16Yeah.
47:17I love it.
47:18The shower is fabulous.
47:19The tiles are terrific.
47:20The pair of you have made and created the most terrific family home.
47:25And I know the pair you're going to love.
47:27The home is magnificent.
47:29Look at that view.
47:31It's exceptional.
47:32And walking through the door, there's just a beautiful finish.
47:37Putting their shoulder to the grindstone, they've achieved a miracle.
47:41Even more incredible is tonight is their first night as a family in this home.
47:48And they're just about to start their journey.
47:50But already they have the barn in their sights to go again.
47:55And that shows how comfortable this couple are working together to produce an amazing home at the end.
48:05You truly get a sense that John and Grace love this home.
48:10And this home loves them.
48:13Cheers!
48:14Cheers!
48:15Cheers!
48:16Cheers!
48:17Cheers!
48:30Cheers!
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