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00:00Our past is alive in our old buildings.
00:05They speak of our history and offer solid solutions for today's housing needs.
00:11I'm following restorers as they battle through the good, the bad,
00:18and the awful challenges of rebuilding ruins to create homes fit for the future.
00:31High on the slopes of the valley of the River Bandon in West Cork,
00:37weathered by the winds, sits the Rock House.
00:41No one can recall exactly when this old farmhouse was built,
00:46but it has lain empty for five years,
00:49and the barns, yard and the building itself are now in a sorry state of disrepair.
00:57It's January 2023, and I'm here to meet the brave couple
01:02who bought this place two weeks ago, just before Christmas.
01:06Local teacher Grace Cotter, who grew up just across the river,
01:10and her landscaper husband John, who hails from distant East Cork.
01:19Good morning! Hi, welcome to West Cork.
01:22Thank you very much. Lovely to meet you.
01:25Grace, it's very nice to meet you. John, nice to meet you too.
01:28How are you? Very, very good.
01:30So you're obviously doing a bit of work to it. There's plenty to be done.
01:34So tell us, how did you find it?
01:36I'm a West Cork girl, John's East Cork,
01:39and 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,
01:50and I was thrilled. Just like that? Just like that.
01:53This 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,
01:58Grace'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
02:12and children Sophia and Everleigh.
02:15Also, they have a new baby on the way.
02:24And how much did you pay for it?
02:26£240,000.
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,
02:32so 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
02:39with some sort of glass atrium,
02:41but with that in mind, we were going to keep the conservatory
02:43that you see on the side of the house.
02:45Every trace person that's been here has said
02:47it's not really salvageable, that little conservatory.
02:49What a shame.
02:51We'll be discussing doing up the barn first
02:53and moving in there while we do up the main house.
02:56The house and barn covers 300 square metres,
02:59and 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.
03:11He had two and a half days on a digger.
03:13It is your handy now, John.
03:15Not too bad.
03:16Well, let's go in there then.
03:18John's skills would be put to the test here.
03:21I've seldom seen a house that needs quite so much fixing.
03:27So I look around and it looks like a horror session.
03:31Yeah.
03:32Particularly all your shutter boxes, which would have been here, are gone.
03:35The cows have been in, I see cow pats.
03:38How long has the house been vacant?
03:40Not as long as you'd think.
03:42Is it five years?
03:43It's only five to seven years, something like that,
03:45so it went backward fairly fast.
03:47And you've your own blackberries in the house, which is lovely.
03:51Yeah, we're keeping those.
03:52And did you get into the house now before you bought it physically?
03:56Oh, dear.
03:57We came a good few times.
03:58We came a good few times, 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.
04:05It was love at first sight with the house,
04:07and no matter what anyone said or anyone's reactions to the place,
04:11we really do love it.
04:13We've only owned it for two or three weeks, so we're meeting tradesmen.
04:16People are bouncing ideas off us.
04:18People are telling us, no, this plan you had is not going to work.
04:21Would you think about this instead?
04:23So, yeah, we're still kind of...
04:25Feeling your way.
04:26Still feeling it out.
04:27All right, come on.
04:28Let's have a mooch.
04:31The worn wooden stairs leads to five bedrooms.
04:34I just love this staircase, huh?
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,
04:47but others are filled with monstrous heaps of ratcheted bedding
04:52and are all steadily falling to pieces.
04:55The 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...
05:07Colour is all we've discussed, really.
05:09And what colour are they?
05:11We don't know, actually.
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.
05:25It can be hard to appreciate the character and simple beauty of a house like this
05:30when it's in such a sad state of disrepair.
05:34You obviously have quite a bit of damage on the wall.
05:36Yeah.
05:37And then down here, you've taken out a bit of the floor
05:40and you've got tonnes of woodworm.
05:42Yes.
05:43Like, really extensive.
05:46If the wooden joists, lats and stairs need to go,
05:49Grace and John could be left with nothing more than the walls.
05:54In this house, you have to rewire, replumb, put in heating.
06:00So there's a lot of work in this house.
06:04There is.
06:05You'd better get it all perfect.
06:06I know.
06:07What?
06:08Five 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.
06:14Goodness, you take on a lot, don't you?
06:16Yeah, we're crazy.
06:17Yeah.
06:21The Rock House comprises the original building,
06:24laid out in traditional farmhouse style with two rooms around a staircase.
06:30Stuck on the back is a block-built, two-storey, 90s extension,
06:36doubling the size of the house.
06:40Grace and John plan to have their sitting room and dining room at the front,
06:44while a short corridor to the back will link the kitchen, utility,
06:49boot room and toilet.
06:51Upstairs, the return, and a jumble of short staircases
06:56lead to two junk-filled bedrooms to the rear
07:00and three small wooden-walled bedrooms to the front.
07:05They're still debating exactly what will be what and where will be where,
07:10but the new layout will provide three bedrooms, a study, a bathroom and a hot press.
07:16To make the most of the stunning south-westerly views over the valley,
07:21they had hoped to retain the 1990s sunroom at the side of the house,
07:26but have been advised it's unsaveable.
07:29Work may be needed on the roof, which is an unusual pitch due to the tacked-on extension.
07:35They also intend to convert the large stone barn alongside,
07:40possibly to live in while they finish the house.
07:44Restoring this house is a mammoth project.
07:48But their stone barn is windowless, largely roofless and knee-deep in farm mud.
07:55It's a huge project in itself.
07:58So your budget on this project is?
08:01We're hoping around £300,000 for both buildings.
08:05For both buildings.
08:06Yeah.
08:07OK, so in my experience and having walked around with the Perrier,
08:11the building behind you, because of its condition,
08:14you'd see no change out of £400,000.
08:17And, to be totally honest, in my opinion, between septic tank,
08:23getting your road up here, doing your electrics, your wiring, your plumbing,
08:27the world and his wife, your £300,000 will be gone.
08:32And 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.
08:44As they start their journey on these amazing buildings,
08:49both the house and that stone barn.
08:53They have a limited budget of £300,000 and John wants to do both buildings.
08:58But, in my opinion, that's not possible or practical.
09:02Therefore, their resources have to be spent doing the house.
09:07So they need to take time, think about what they're going to do,
09:12get it right and get on with it.
09:14And they most certainly have to get on with it
09:17because they're living in a mobile home with two children and a baby on the way.
09:24Obviously, it's disappointing to hear that he doesn't think
09:28that 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 we only have the place two weeks, we're only learning as we go.
09:39And it might not happen, but I'm an optimist, forever the optimist.
09:44Even though our vision isn't fully formed right now,
09:47we don't know whether we're going to be doing a small extension,
09:50whether we're just going to be fixing the main house
09:52or 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,
09:59get our quotes in, get our mortgage application finalised
10:03and get all of our grant applications done.
10:05So that's priority number one for now.
10:10With his family about to expand beyond their mobile home,
10:14John wants to get started as soon as possible working evenings and weekends
10:19to fit around his day job in landscaping.
10:22It's less than a fortnight since my visit,
10:25and he's already back on site with his tool bag and his brother Gerold
10:29to 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,
10:39have it nice and crisp.
10:40I would be sympathetic to keeping some of the architecture,
10:42but I draw the line at these tongue and groove walls.
10:45They're not a special architectural feature as far as I'm concerned,
10:47so that's not staying.
10:50Do you want to maybe start on that wall?
10:53I have my brother Gerold giving a hand today.
10:55He's just here to get stuck in and give me a hand
10:57and 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.
11:04It always seemed to be his kind of way of doing things, you know?
11:06I 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 ten-ton pile of rocks and think,
11:17oh my God, how am I going to move that?
11:19But I can crack into that and get it done reasonably OK,
11:21and 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.
11:32Yuck.
11:34A rat's nest.
11:36Nothing deters this pair, from rodents to my reasoning.
11:40I suggested they restrict their project to the house alone.
11:44Yeah, that was the biggest disappointment for me when Hugh said
11:47that the barn was something that we shouldn't even consider doing.
11:50But having spoken ourselves, we do feel as though we're going to plough on.
11:54You know, I kind of want to almost prove Hugh wrong
11:57and 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.
12:04It'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,
12:14but the bank has asked them to resubmit documents so 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.
12:26It's nice to see that the space cleared out
12:28and 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.
12:41As January comes to a close, with clearing in the house making an impact,
12:47the 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.
12:59I really want to be involved in any way I can,
13:03whether it's picking up or bringing coffees or whatever way.
13:07I just love being here on site.
13:09We've had a tough few months.
13:10Life 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.
13:27The sunroom is never built correctly, so the pitch on the roof is wrong.
13:30So it always let moisture in.
13:32It's a shame because it has amazing 180-degree views,
13:37but it's too rough. We just have to take it down.
13:39So 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,
13:47but that's basically the process.
13:51Nearly there.
13:57It's vital, basically, that I do as much of this work myself as I possibly can.
14:01A builder would charge a lot for the type of work that we're doing today,
14:04so it is quite important that we can do a lot of this stuff ourselves.
14:07John, definitely, he's fantastic.
14:09He's doing his own full-time work and still coming here
14:12and doing what he can on the weekends.
14:14We're doing what we can to support him and I'm rowing in when I can,
14:18but there's not a whole pile I can do.
14:20I'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...
14:25God, he's amazing.
14:27There's no doubt that he'll see this done.
14:30Oh, my God.
14:32I just...
14:34I'm so, um...
14:36Turned on, isn't he?
14:38It's OK, you just did 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.
14:48My thought was it would be a lovely walled patio.
14:51I actually like the fact the stone is from the quarry here,
14:55which is why it's called Rock House,
14:57so it'll be nice to keep a feature of the stone from the quarry as well,
15:01and I completely trust John's vision on this.
15:04I was initially sad to see the sunroom going,
15:07but this sounds like an exciting plan.
15:11Using his knowledge as a landscaper,
15:13John 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
15:23that I 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
15:31to separate those out from the footings
15:33because they are actually worth a bit of money.
15:35While progress motors on with the clearing,
15:38work on the barn has come to a halt.
15:41Hugh's advice was just to focus on the house and not the barn.
15:45We're probably going to switch the focus more to what he recommended
15:49and just get the house done.
15:51I think the house has to be priority one at this point
15:53because I guess if it was just me and Grace,
15:57we'd probably be happy in the mobile for possibly three years,
16:00but with two kids, it's not ideal.
16:02We need to get out of the mobile, really.
16:04I don't want to have another winter or two winters in the mobile,
16:08so 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?
16:25I don't like slugs.
16:27You like snails, do you? Yeah.
16:31The financial pressure that was eased by moving into the mobile is enormous.
16:35The mobile home cost us €7,500,
16:37so we really have saved approximately €40,000
16:40by not having to rent for two years.
16:42I would recommend to anyone, if you have the space for a mobile home,
16:46if 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,
16:56so 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
17:05how long we're going to be here,
17:07but hopefully we're seeing the end.
17:10This will be our last winter.
17:11It's not been unenjoyable.
17:13We 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
17:19the 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.
17:28Obviously Grace is 25, 26 weeks pregnant,
17:31so baby due in mid-January.
17:34We don't want to be bringing a newborn into the mobile
17:36for any longer than is completely necessary.
17:39But we're kind of putting pressure on ourselves anyway
17:42because we really want to get out of the mobile.
17:47With October comes progress.
17:50They've been greenlit for their mortgage to fund the project.
17:54With cash flow at last, John shells out and hires a digger.
17:59So the plan for today, I had the digger in digging trenches,
18:01getting the rainwater pipes and that in the ground.
18:03So as a habit, I'm going to take down the mobile.
18:05You can see the background.
18:07The old mobile on site provides an opportunity for John
18:11to take out his frustration about mobile living
18:15while also making fast progress.
18:18There's also a couple of large block walls behind it
18:20that were originally some sort of shed.
18:22Going to take all of that down.
18:23So it's about crushing the mobile and a bit of rubble collection.
18:26It's definitely coming down easy.
18:28Yeah, easier than I thought.
18:30So yeah, the 10 ton machine makes short work of it.
18:33So I'll plough on anyway.
18:35John's happy toppling walls outside,
18:37but work on the house itself is on hold.
18:42The unskilled work I can do myself phase
18:45is pretty much drawing to a close.
18:47In terms of time frame, I would say we're definitely behind.
18:50Trying to find tradesmen has been unbelievably difficult.
18:53Job number one in the house is a new roof.
18:55We can't really do anything else until the roof gets changed
18:57because 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 euro worth of grants,
19:12which makes a huge difference.
19:14The only downside to being approved for the grant,
19:16kind of before we're ready to really crack on with the vengeance,
19:19is we have 13 months to have the house livable.
19:22We were told by the inspector that came out,
19:24basically 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
19:36and the ticking clock of the grant deadline hanging over them,
19:40John has begun to remove the green render
19:43and, even more challengingly,
19:46has decided to take off the roof himself
19:48with the aim of replacing it fast.
19:51So we're about 10 months in now.
19:53First months were very, very slow.
19:55Up until now, it's been me scratching around the place,
19:57renting 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.
20:10But 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
20:28before this troublesome building can be called home.
20:36Landscaper John Cotter, his wife, schoolteacher Grace
20:40and their about-to-expand family
20:43are restoring an unloved farmhouse
20:46on the banks of the Bandon River in West Cork.
20:50They're living and working from a mobile home
20:53and are keen to get into their new house as soon as they can.
20:58Ten months since they bought the place,
21:00John is removing the remaining dodgy cement render from the house's exterior.
21:06See, what we've decided to do is we're going to expose all of the stone.
21:09My next job after this will be to go along all of these joints and gouge them out
21:13and then all of the insulation will come from the inside.
21:16So it should look pretty good when it's all brushed up.
21:18Everybody we've shown pictures of it to thinks the stone looks amazing, basically.
21:22So the old green elephant is slowly disappearing.
21:26By November, the green elephant render is a thing of the past,
21:31exposing the stone walls and the new roof is finally in place.
21:36Now the building's sealed from above, I'm visiting to talk next steps.
21:42Gosh, it's great to come up here. You've done huge work, Grace and John.
21:46We're delighted. Slow and steady. The roof going on was huge.
21:49Yeah, well, it's a game changer.
21:51It means I can really do things inside, stud walls and plasterboarding and things like that
21:54that couldn't have been done before, you know.
21:56You know, the first time I saw this house, I have to tell you, I thought it was an ugly duckling.
22:00What are you doing now with the external stonework?
22:03The hope and the dream is to keep the stonework exposed
22:05and do all of the insulation from the inside.
22:07Ah, look, you're absolutely mad. You just need to render it.
22:12The house was never built for the stone to be exposed.
22:16Having no exterior render can bring problems with heat and damp.
22:21I'm really happy with the idea of rendering the outside of the house.
22:25You know, we have endless stone, really.
22:28What are your windows going to look like?
22:30The discussion is, do you want to stand outside your house,
22:33looking at the house looking beautiful with sash windows,
22:35or do you want to look from inside out to the beautiful view?
22:38And that's where I'm going to spend the majority of my time.
22:41What I want is to look out at unspoiled views,
22:44so I'm leaning towards my view out being more important.
22:48As well as wanting unusual windows which open outwards from the centre,
22:53Grace is hoping for them to be in aluminium.
22:58I'm pushing hard for not aluminium.
23:01Why?
23:02Because it's €8,000 more expensive.
23:04Yeah, just go for it.
23:06UPVC windows are cheaper than aluminium,
23:10but there are more colour options with the latter,
23:13and they last longer.
23:15I'm willing to cut things to get certain things right,
23:18and the windows I'm not willing to bend on.
23:21I really am a firm believer of buy cheap, buy twice.
23:24You'll never change the windows.
23:26You're only going to do it once, so you must do it correctly.
23:29The multiple choices for windows don't end there.
23:33They had considered an architectural grade for their frames,
23:36but I believe green windows could be more in line
23:39with their increasingly attractive period house.
23:43I've suggested this green.
23:46It's called a heritage green.
23:48If you go down to the village,
23:50there are two buildings which are just done up,
23:52beautiful render with a sand in it.
23:54Go down to the village and hold them up against the wall.
23:57Grace and John head straight into Shannon to weigh up
24:01which window colour will match the sand lime render.
24:06So...
24:08It's the...
24:09Yeah.
24:10It's the mint grey.
24:11This is a definite no, isn't it?
24:13Well, that's hues green.
24:14That's hues green, yeah.
24:16It's not bad.
24:17It's not bad. I like it.
24:18I think it's fair to say hue was right.
24:22LAUGHTER
24:24Gosh darn it.
24:26OK, fantastic.
24:28Well, colour is my thing, after all.
24:31But, back at the house, I want to talk to them about layout.
24:36There are no planning restrictions on the house interior,
24:39but I believe their current plan doesn't make the best use
24:43of the space and light.
24:45You'll naturally orientate yourself towards the sun in the evening
24:50and you'll end up yearning to be in this area.
24:54See that blue wall behind you?
24:56Get rid of that.
24:57So, you link this room with next door.
25:00But I actually believe that should be your sitting room.
25:04Your kitchen dining is here,
25:06and that front room actually is where all your utility,
25:10your downstairs toilet and your booth room is.
25:13I do like the idea of what is currently three rooms
25:16essentially becomes one.
25:18Yeah.
25:19And it becomes the actual living space.
25:21It is a lot to think about.
25:22It just changes absolutely everything.
25:25Yeah.
25:26I think it's very important they resolve the issues of the layout
25:29and where the different rooms go.
25:32Because until they do that, they really can't make any more progress.
25:40Christmas proves to be a non-event, with little to no break for John.
25:45The screed and underfloor heating pipes go in
25:48and he's barely away from the site.
25:51I am absolutely knackered,
25:53but I kind of feel like for the first time the finish line is in sight.
25:58But his work continues to save them thousands.
26:03Before the finish line can be reached,
26:06their baby is due within a month.
26:09It's January 2024,
26:11and I'm keen to give them both a break from midwinter mobile life
26:17before new baby parenting kicks in.
26:21I've brought them to John's home turf, East Cork,
26:25to look around a 19th-century stone farmhouse
26:28with a very similar layout to their own.
26:33The stonework is awesome, isn't it?
26:35It's beautiful.
26:36Yeah.
26:38Now, look at this.
26:40Beautiful room.
26:42It's beautiful.
26:44So this is the blue room.
26:47Oh, wow.
26:49It's absolutely gorgeous.
26:56So the reason I brought you here is to inspire you and say,
27:00this is what your home will look like.
27:03The reason that I love this house is the decor.
27:06Yeah, it's beautiful.
27:07They've done a really nice job.
27:08It's gorgeous.
27:09You'd love to move in here.
27:11In fact, why don't we say that to the homeowners?
27:14Just for a while.
27:15We'll just swap.
27:16Swap houses.
27:17Since our last chat, Grace and John have updated their layout plans.
27:22I've asked them to bring them along today.
27:25They've taken on my suggestions, but I have one more new idea.
27:30Funnily enough, because of the shape of this,
27:33you may well put in a pantry in there.
27:36Oh, yeah.
27:37A pantry.
27:39It's my final dream.
27:41It's her dream.
27:42I've always wanted a pantry.
27:43You can't not allow her to have her dream.
27:45It's probably a bit small.
27:46No, it's perfect.
27:47It would be perfect.
27:48Hugh says it's perfect.
27:50John has been overruled, and I'm to blame.
27:53This today has been amazing to be able to see something that is so close
27:57to what we have and what it could be, and I love the colors.
28:01I love everything.
28:02It's beautiful.
28:03Please, God, it comes together as beautifully as this.
28:10Although it looks like thousands of other plain 19th
28:14and 20th century farmhouses around the country,
28:17the Rock House appears on a Georgian map,
28:20which was funded by noblemen and gentlemen to map the roads of Ireland.
28:27Fitting in all they can before the baby comes,
28:30Grace and John are meeting archivist Nicola Morris
28:33to find out about Rock House's history,
28:36upriver at the 18th century Inyshannon House Hotel.
28:41This is the earliest reference that we found to Rock House.
28:45Oh, it's there.
28:47So that was surveyed in 1777,
28:52and this little house here denotes a nobleman's or gentleman's seat.
28:59It looks like Rock House.
29:02Grace and John's new home is listed not as a farmhouse,
29:06but, like the building they're in, as a gentleman's residence.
29:11So you can see for Rock House, there's a name beside it,
29:16the Gilman family.
29:18Then in 1837, there's a publication by a gentleman called Samuel Lewis.
29:23It's called the Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.
29:26So he identifies Rock House as a gentleman's seat of the Gilmans,
29:30and he describes it as being situated on the side of Romantic Glen,
29:34in the centre of some highly improved grounds.
29:37I am so impressed. It's really fantastic. I had no clue.
29:42I probably always thought of it as a farmhouse,
29:45whereas this has given it serious grandeur.
29:48Henry Gilman, described as a gentleman,
29:51improved the land and the house before putting it up for sale in 1851.
29:57You're the lady of the manor. I am the lady of the manor.
30:00So this is the brochure that they created for the sale of Rock House in 1851.
30:06Part of the brochure was a map. OK.
30:09So you have Rock House, the buildings and the outbuildings and so on.
30:13It's totally different.
30:15And you can even see how the land would have been laid out again,
30:18that kind of, the element of ornamental gardens and so on.
30:21Oh, it's such a pity we don't still have the ornamental gardens.
30:25I would imagine either that one that's kind of running horizontal
30:29or that one that's running horizontal is the barn that's there at the moment.
30:33It's so familiar. Yeah.
30:36So the 1901 census declared there was 13 rooms in the building.
30:43But in 1911, there was only seven rooms in the building.
30:47And there is notes in the margin saying that the building is in poor repair.
30:51By the early 20th century, the formal gardens
30:54and the house itself had fallen into disrepair.
30:58From the time they bought it,
31:00Grace and John were able to see beyond the Rock House's junk-strewn,
31:05tumble-down state.
31:07You know, it's really exciting to feel that we're the next in line
31:12in this amazing house. I love it.
31:14I really genuinely thought we were just buying a beautiful farmhouse
31:18on a lovely piece of land.
31:20I just didn't realise we were getting a real piece of history.
31:23It's really so interesting. Amazing, yeah.
31:26Your gentlewoman's seat. Absolutely.
31:29How nice would it be to have the river frontage still?
31:32And the lovely gardens.
31:34They'll be back all right.
31:38It's February, and the Gentleman's Residence
31:41is taking a step closer to re-emerging in full splendour.
31:46Today, the new aluminium windows go in.
31:49Aluminium is one of the most expensive window types,
31:53making this one of their biggest ticket items.
31:56It's important they feel that they have spent wisely.
32:00So, a big day today with the windows going in.
32:02Definitely a milestone job, really.
32:04The house being airtight and, you know, I can do certain things now.
32:08Plasterboard can go up onto stud walls and things like that
32:10and you don't have to worry about it getting wet.
32:12So it swings in roundabouts.
32:13It's still the €8,000 that the aluminium is costing,
32:16which is, yeah, a nice bit extra.
32:18But, look, they're going in today. It's a positive day.
32:20It's all that matters.
32:22It's not long since he jackhammered off the green render,
32:25but now John may be regretting taking my advice on the window colour.
32:31Looking at all of the frames stacked against the back wall there,
32:34I was like, oh, God, it's very green.
32:37The windows are in,
32:39and with a much more significant new arrival on site today,
32:43baby Samuel is making his first visit to his future home.
32:48What do you think of your new house?
32:52He's not much.
32:54So we have Samuel. He's finally made his entrance.
32:58He arrived early, unexpectedly, in January, which is fantastic.
33:03Brilliant to be bringing him up to the new house
33:05to show him where he's going to be living.
33:09What are your thoughts? I like it.
33:12It's so not what I had envisaged day one, of course.
33:16No, it's definitely bold.
33:18Sure, it's Hugh's fault if we don't like it anyway, isn't it?
33:21At first, I was scared that I was going to regret
33:24this massive decision about the green windows.
33:26Now, green, I love the colour green.
33:28You know, there's definitely no doubt in my mind
33:31that, you know, green was a good colour to choose.
33:33I was maybe slightly worried when John sent me a text message last night,
33:36a picture message, and the green looked very, very bright.
33:39But in person, it's exactly what we wanted. It's gorgeous.
33:43I was just saying it would have been very awkward, you know,
33:46had we hated them.
33:48Well, it is awkward. Yeah. I kind of hate them.
33:51The colour may have raised questions, but the central opening design,
33:56which Grace chose, makes the big spend worthwhile.
33:59Oh, I love it.
34:01Yeah, it's really exactly what we wanted. Yeah.
34:06With Samuel's arrival, the expanded family
34:09have had to move into Grace's mother's house.
34:12Bringing your family of five in on top of your in-laws is not exactly ideal.
34:16The mobiles were sardines, and I really like.
34:19I urged this pair to pin down layout plans early.
34:23And now that Samuel is here,
34:25John spotted an opportunity to create a fourth bedroom in the attic,
34:29which Grace had intended to use as storage.
34:33But for it to work, they will need to find a space for stairs for access.
34:38This will involve cutting what was intended as Sophia's bedroom in two.
34:43So it's not something we discussed before,
34:46but what would have been bedroom number two,
34:49Sophia's room, becomes a little landing living room area.
34:55My initial reaction to John's proposal
34:59is maybe a little bit of disappointment
35:02that again we hadn't discussed this
35:05before other things had been put in place.
35:08So now it's a back step.
35:10But I think that's part of the nature of renovating a house.
35:13Maybe the house is kind of speaking to us as we're putting it together
35:16and you're starting to see things that might make more sense for our family.
35:19And I suppose all along we were a family of four,
35:22and maybe psychologically we weren't thinking of this extra person
35:27who was going to need space.
35:29But this does make sense for our family.
35:31We'd have to be really, really clever about the storage space for the attic.
35:35I have a lot of stuff that I planned on putting in there.
35:38We could get a skip as well.
35:40Skip, OK. Skip as well.
35:43It's April 2024.
35:45Plastering's underway indoors.
35:48And there's yet more clearing to be done outdoors.
35:52Today it's Saturday, and it's his birthday.
35:55But with the grant deadline looming,
35:58a tired John can't take the day off.
36:01Surprise!
36:02Happy birthday to you.
36:05Happy birthday to you.
36:09Happy birthday dear John.
36:14Happy birthday to you.
36:17Will you help me blow?
36:19Come on, son. Ready?
36:23We did it!
36:25Happy birthday!
36:26Like Grace, John's mum and sister appreciate his endless work.
36:31We'll give that to Daddy now first.
36:33They're Trojan workers, so they've done a great job.
36:36Well, last week, no. I just don't.
36:38The stairs to the attic has been put in since,
36:41and I think it's just transformed the whole place upstairs.
36:45Grace's mum has witnessed the long months of toil.
36:49John has been up here day and night.
36:52You worry about him really because there's no end to the day,
36:55and with the evenings getting longer,
36:56I think he's just dreaming of being up here even longer.
36:59The following day, the long process of rendering the exterior has begun
37:04to seal the building in from the elements.
37:07So first layer of blastering has gone on today.
37:09Beautiful sunny day for it. So exciting stuff.
37:11John's relief at working with a team and working fast is palpable.
37:16I've never seen that pump that they're using before,
37:18but it's absolutely flying on.
37:20It completely changes the house.
37:22Standing here looking at the house now,
37:23it's a totally different house to what we've been looking at
37:25for the last 18 months or so.
37:28So I was slightly sad to see the stone go.
37:31The original plan was to have the stone exposed,
37:33but looking at it there, it feels like the house has kind of put its coat on.
37:36It just looks a little bit more snug and a little bit more warm.
37:39We can't really get a sense of the colour yet.
37:41The next layer will be made with a different type of sand,
37:43so it's going to be slightly more yellow than what we've done today.
37:46But even when that goes on, you won't really get a sense for a while,
37:49and it will take a while to dry out.
37:51So it'll be a few weeks before we really see if the plaster window combination has worked.
37:57But I'm sure it has.
37:58I'm sure it'll be lovely.
38:00In who we trust.
38:02It's August. The house is finally rendered,
38:04second fix has happened inside,
38:06and John can at last begin on making the one-time dumping ground into a landscape.
38:15While John's in his element outside,
38:17the pressure's also now on Grace to make the interior work,
38:21with two small children to look after all the while.
38:26You know, I can see the vision,
38:29and I've been collecting bits and pieces over the last two years,
38:33and, you know, planning colours and furniture,
38:37and as it comes time now to start pulling things out and putting them into the rooms,
38:41I'm like, is it going to work?
38:43I bought things without really knowing the size of rooms, rooms have changed,
38:47and then basing other decisions on, you know, what I think something looked like,
38:53or looking at photos and trying to piece a room together.
38:57It's really exciting on one hand,
38:59but on another, I'm nervous that have I made the right decisions,
39:03said the panicked woman.
39:07Twenty-one months ago, I first visited John and Grace Cotter
39:12at their newly acquired ruinous home, the Rock House,
39:16on the banks of the Bandon River in Cork.
39:20The rotting farmhouse, surrounded by junk that gave me the chills back then,
39:25has undergone a radical makeover.
39:28What is this pleasing vision I see before me?
39:31A gentleman's residence, in gentle tones of cream and green,
39:35in exquisitely landscaped surroundings.
39:41Now, good morning to the pair here.
39:45Hi, Hugh. How are you? It's lovely to see you, Grace.
39:47Lovely to see you.
39:49John, lovely to see you. Welcome back.
39:51What a transformation. It's like the house on the hill.
39:54Yeah, we got there in the end.
39:56And the colour of the windows is great.
39:58I have to tell you, I feel like I'm in a little bit of France.
40:01A lot of people say that when they come up here,
40:03it kind of has a Central European sort of,
40:05and almost a Swiss look about it.
40:07Look at that view. Yeah.
40:09Well, look, let's get through that door now and enjoy the inside.
40:16My goodness, it's really like walking into a new house, isn't it?
40:21I remember this, and it was filthy.
40:24It was cowpats. Yeah.
40:26The place was falling asunder.
40:28Yeah, it was fairly bad, all right.
40:30The cow dung floor is long gone in favour of heritage tiling,
40:34and this Spaghetti Junction staircase has been lovingly restored.
40:39Super to come in here. I love the staircase.
40:42I always love the staircase,
40:44the way it peels off in four different directions,
40:47and it is quite characterful.
40:49I can feel that family is at the heart of this house.
40:53But it's just great, and you have a super utility room now.
40:56Yeah, well, we took your advice on that.
40:58Yeah, that was a really good decision.
41:00I know it's an odd place to have it, but it works.
41:02Oh, it makes sense. It's brilliant.
41:04And you've got the lovely windows here.
41:06Yeah, it's beautiful. Really lovely.
41:08Beyond the utility room, Grace's excellent taste
41:11is in full effect in a spectacular bathroom.
41:15Will we go on? Yeah, absolutely.
41:17Let's go.
41:19We head up the quirky stairs to another feature
41:22designed to make sense of the space.
41:25A sitting room for grown-ups, eeked out of the area,
41:29housing the new stairs to the converted attic,
41:32with soothing views across the fields for weary parents.
41:37The disappointment for me was losing the conservatory,
41:40but that kind of started the rejigging of the inside.
41:43But then we were missing a second sitting room,
41:45you know, with three children.
41:47We felt like we needed somewhere else to sit.
41:49You must know yourself, the period to come up here...
41:52Yeah, we love it. ..and think of what you've achieved.
41:54And you've got your staircase up to your attic.
41:56Yeah. And you have a bedroom upstairs.
41:59Yeah. Yeah. And who's up there?
42:01The eldest, Sophia. I'd say she loves it.
42:04She's already organising a friend for Friday.
42:06She can't wait. Isn't that superb? Yeah.
42:09There's a guest bedroom across the hall,
42:11and at the front of the house,
42:13and at the front of the house,
42:15where the wooden walls once hemmed in three small bedrooms.
42:19Everleigh and Samuel now share an adorable nursery bedroom,
42:23alongside the family bathroom
42:25and Grace and John's elegant, spacious bedroom.
42:32The colour scheme in here is great.
42:34Your curtains are fabulous.
42:36Aren't they just? Yeah.
42:38All of the fabrics were inspired by shirts that you wore during...
42:43Happy to have inspired the curtain fabric,
42:46we trot back downstairs to the family sitting room,
42:49with its exposed stone wall celebrating the Rock House's name.
42:54But the exterior render allowed them to achieve
42:57a great BR rating of A3, showing it can be done.
43:02The sitting room opens into the dining room and kitchen,
43:05running across the back of the house
43:07and showcasing John's spectacular vision of a garden.
43:12You know when you come into a home and you go, it's happy?
43:15Yes.
43:16The pair of you have created a very happy home.
43:19When you come into the home, it's amazing.
43:21I have to tell you, the finish is amazing.
43:23It looks like professional interior decorators were in here.
43:28You've just got the delicate balance of respecting the old house,
43:33but having just a complete new, fresh feel to it.
43:37Grace showed her creativity
43:39with the impressive design finish in every room.
43:43I did price an interior designer,
43:45and I must admit I nearly died when I got the price.
43:47And I said, you know what, I can do it.
43:49And I just started gathering and thinking and marrying things together.
43:54And if you look around, like our kitchen table is, again,
43:57Facebook Marketplace, and the dresser is, again,
44:00a secondhand online purchase.
44:03You've transformed this space, the pair of you.
44:06Was it very stressful?
44:08No.
44:09No.
44:10My mum has been amazing.
44:12Grace and I were real partners in the whole process,
44:14but we have to give a special mention to Grace's mother as well,
44:17because it would have been near on impossible to do it without her.
44:20So Caroline was absolutely amazing.
44:23When you think about this house was here, what, a hundred and whatever years,
44:26120 years?
44:27Yeah.
44:28You know, now it's going to be here for another 200.
44:30Hopefully, yeah.
44:31You're responsible for that, but that's terrific.
44:34Beyond the kitchen, the wide terrace with its continental feel
44:38provides yet more family living space.
44:42John built up the lawn and has planted hundreds of trees on the bank beyond.
44:48Your handiwork as a landscape designer is definitely the forefront out here.
44:53You know, you see, what I find intriguing is you've got old bits and bins.
44:58Yeah.
44:59And you've made them into the most wonderful little piece of sculpture.
45:03Yeah.
45:04Here beneath the beautiful cornice cousa tree
45:07at the heart of the newly planted family garden,
45:10their miscarried baby is commemorated.
45:15This family's strength and endurance is inspiring.
45:19They are planning to move straight on from completing the house
45:22to converting the barn, which I told them to put on hold on my first visit.
45:29Yeah, we were going to do both buildings in conjunction with each other,
45:33but living in a mobile home, Grace being pregnant,
45:36we decided to just focus our efforts on the house.
45:39We've both gained a lot of skills and knowledge from the house
45:43that maybe we would have made mistakes with the barn had we jumped into it,
45:46and we have forever now, and John can get to work every Saturday now for...
45:50Tomorrow.
45:51There you go.
45:52So you bought the land and the buildings on it for...
45:57240.
45:58240,000.
45:59Yeah.
46:00And your budget to do up the two buildings...
46:03Yeah.
46:04...was how much?
46:05300, we figured.
46:06Right.
46:07And we could have done both buildings to a low standard.
46:10Well, that's your opinion.
46:12How much did this cost?
46:13The overall costs came in at 283,000, but materials for the patio,
46:188,000 euro worth of slabs, say 2½ grand for other materials.
46:22There's 6,000 euro worth of railway sleepers gone in.
46:25There's 400 tons of hardcore at 18 euro a ton.
46:28So, do you know, the house, even though the entire project cost us 283,000 euro,
46:34the house probably cost us somewhere in the region of 220, something like that.
46:37But look at the size of the barn, John.
46:39It's uneven.
46:40Look at John and what he can achieve.
46:42I know, but look at what the pair of you can achieve.
46:45I may yet have to eat my hat.
46:48And the great thing is as well that now when we regroup our grants,
46:51which is the derelict homes grant, which is 70,000,
46:54and our SEAI grant, which is 14,000,
46:56and our well grant, which is 6,000,
46:59we're looking at only having spent 187,000 on the house.
47:03That's what's made the house affordable for you, is that fair?
47:06Yeah.
47:07If we had hired a builder and said,
47:09make that habitable for us, see you in 18 months,
47:12it would have probably cost about 600,000 euro.
47:14When I came up here the first time, I was going,
47:16oh my God, the don't have a chance.
47:19I have to tell you that I was horrified.
47:22Isn't it extraordinary what you've been able to do?
47:25And not only that, but I love your bathroom downstairs.
47:28Yes.
47:29It's fabulous.
47:30I love it.
47:31Do you know, and I think that that's the moments that are so exciting.
47:34When you open those doors and you go into the bathroom and you go,
47:37yes, I love it.
47:39The shower is fabulous.
47:40The tiles are terrific.
47:42The pair you have made and created the most terrific family home,
47:46and I know the pair you're going to love it.
47:49The home is magnificent.
47:51Look at that view.
47:53It's exceptional.
47:54I'm walking through the door.
47:56There's just a beautiful finish.
47:59Putting their shoulder to the grindstone, they've achieved a miracle.
48:03Even more incredible is tonight is their first night as a family in this home,
48:09and they're just about to start their journey,
48:11but already they have the barn in their sights to go again,
48:16and that shows how comfortable this couple are working together
48:22to produce an amazing home at the end.
48:26You truly get a sense that John and Grace love this home,
48:31and this home loves them.
48:34Cheers!
48:39Cheers!
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