The House with the Yellow Windows – As we found it….what a beaut!

In this blog post we’ll just give a brief walk through the main Farmhouse as we found when first viewed. Next articles we’ll start getting into the detail of approaches to renovation & restoration.

The main Farmhouse as we found it, the yellow door & windows gave it a real individual character –  Aluminium Double glazed Windows were installed we think approx. 20/25 years ago where they would have replaced the original Green Sash Windows which we found had been reused in an outdoor Glass House.

Original Slate Roof in great nick, as were the chimney stacks.  

 We made our way into the house through a dilapidated back porch adjoined to the Kitchen. Seems like previous owner Farmer John O ‘Neill was a fan of Yellow in a big way – Inside & Out!

An original Oil Fired Waterford Stanley range which fed 5 old single rads from the 70’s – 4 of which were upstairs. Low suspended ceiling – made me more than curious about what was above it.  

This strong Red & Yellow gave me the feeling of being on the set of a Stanley Kubrick Film Of course, what really caught my eye, was the original Stone Tiled Floor. We originally engaged with an architect for some guidance but he had recommended taking the floor out for underfloor heating!! – Needless to say, we didn’t engage with him for too long! 

(If you are ever planning on doing a self-build Id recommend finding a good Engineer over an Architect to sign off on certifications & structural works.)

The lean to pantry off the Kitchen was cold and damp - north facing with no insulation, single glazed window - Main issue with dampness was floor level being about 30cm lower than exterior ground level of driveway outside. French drain, coupled with insulation would rectify this, though rot had set into joists , so roof would have to be replaced. Thankfully, not a massive area, but per metre squared, an expensive one to address. 

Well worn granite steps that echoed past lives. Anecdotally we’ve been told it was a Kitchen that hosted many a night of song dance & merriment over the years  - The go to party house apparently! We’ll do our best to live up to that hopefully. 

 The Bathroom which was located on the ground floor, besides the Kitchen. This area was a more recent modern Breeze block addition – again, perhaps added in the 1950s/1960s.

North facing side of house, with single glaze window – no roof, wall or floor insulation  & no radiator…without doubt the coldest part of the house. It was like stepping into a walk-in fridge – but again, not a huge area, and though cold, no signs of water ingress.

Next we stepped into the main entrance Hallway, which really stole our hearts!  

The cherry on the cake, the original stained glass Hall landing window ….

The main reception room or the ‘Good Room’  …Not too shabby either

Beautiful original Coving detail on ceiling and original Marble Fireplace. Thankfully this Fireplace had been sealed to minimise any deterioration whilst vacant. Original pitch pine floor.

And a more informal Living Room …

The House is built on a gradient & this floor is about 5 ft higher than the Kitchen Floor level – so whilst in good nick, there is an uninsulated void below floor joists that was the source of huge Heat loss for the building – you could really feel the cold draft coming up.  

Ultimately we would knock through to adjoining kitchen with steps down into Kitchen. One of the biggest jobs we took on ourselves - and we'll go into that in one of our next posts.   

Bedroom 1- The Father Ted Room !

This room hadn’t changed in over 50 years – would have been used by the last 2 Fenlon spinster sisters, who in turn had passed it on to their nephew (the aforementioned last owner Bachelor Farmer John O Neill ). Not as clearly evident from photo, but this room was in poor condition. The original plaster & latt ceiling had a big sag in it & would need immediate attention. Though Lime rendered, signs of dampness in the walls – probably coming in from from a combination of weaker external lime pointing or moisture sucked in from the heavy Ivy on external walls   

Bedroom 2 -

Bedroom 3

A Small Single that would ultimately become the Bathroom – Not evident in this Photo – but some dampness  

Bedroom 4

Originally Bedroom 3 & 4 were one large room and subdivided at some stage – the dividing stud wall was weak and could move with a push, so needed strengthening.

The Left side of Bedroom wall is the gable end of house, and had been rendered in cement at some stage 70’s or 80’s Id guess – more than likely when the room had been subdivided. An area of concern for sure, but nothing that couldn’t be rectified – Like any old House, we knew it wouldn’t be until we actually  got in and started to strip back fully that we would fully know all issues that would need to be addressed. But, so far, so good – nothing that would make us fearful or overly concerned.  

In general, few things really stood out – the house felt really dry – no major signs of dampness or moisture from having been rendered with cement at any stage. Original Lime wall render was dry and really in great nick. Roof was in great condition, and no major structural issues were evident. 

Yes, it would need a lot of work - complete electrical & plumbing/heating overhaul, insulation etc -  not only from a personal point of view, but with the potential of the outbuildings for Home Street Home, it was just too good an opportunity to not go for...

And when you have sunrises like this...well...