A comfortable, nostalgic holiday house on the beautiful coast of County Cork
There is not a cloud in the sky on the day I visit Martin and Eugenia Ephson at their holiday house on the coast of County Cork, high above the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond the dazzle of sunlight bouncing off the water is a peninsula of patchworked greens and a Georgian manor that can be half glimpsed behind trees. It is a view of almost unreal beauty that cannot be very different to the one Eugenia’s parents would have taken in 60 years ago, as they broke ground on what would become their summer house.
A ‘kit house’ design by an American architect whose name no one can remember, the four-bedroom bungalow was in a vaguely New England style with timber cladding and a shingle roof. It was small and simple – perfect for Eugenia’s family, who would decamp from their house in Cork as often as possible. A few years ago, Martin and Eugenia bought the bungalow from her parents, who had built a smaller and more manageable one for themselves next door. The ageing kit house had no foundation and no insulation, so it felt pretty cold for much of the year. With the couple wanting to visit the house more often and for longer stints and their children, Ciara, Patrick and Ludo, starting to spend more time there with their friends and partners, it was beginning to feel a bit of a squeeze. They enlisted Ciara, who set up her interiors studio Fentiman Design in 2016, to help chivvy the house into the next stage of its life.
For many, the temptation would have been to tear it down and start from scratch. Or to tack on a modern (and wholly inappropriate) glass box to one side. Instead, they chose to exercise a heartening sense of restraint and simply added on a new wing in the same style as the original. From the outside, it is difficult to tell which part is the extension – an observation that delights Martin and Eugenia, as that was the point.
Ciara admits that she felt a huge amount of pressure taking on this project. ‘It was terrifying,’ she says with a laugh. ‘The house means so much to so many people.’ This includes herself, as she recalls some of her earliest memories here: freezing picnics on the beach; racing around on her tricycle; and the sponge cake her granny would bake for her birthday every year. The challenge was to create a new space that would not overshadow the original: ‘But my parents were unbelievably trusting. They were dream clients.’
MAY WE SUGGEST: The founder of Farrow & Ball's remote Scottish country house
One advantage of the weather here is that it took less than a year to transform the new cedar shingle roof on the extension from orange to a silvery grey colour that is indistinguishable from the adjacent 60-year-old roof. The original wood cladding on the sides of the house was given a lick of paint and this, too, now creates a seamless continuation with the new cladding on the extension. This sense of cohesion is also felt on the inside.
Although the extension has added about 50 per cent to the size of the house, it maintains every bit of the original’s style and charm, while incorporating a few permissible mod cons, such as underfloor heating. As well as a utility area, it includes Martin and Eugenia’s new bedroom (with a wall of picture windows looking out onto the water), dressing area and bathroom. Cedar, carefully colour matched to the original panelling and internal wood detailing, was cut to the same dimensions and used throughout.
And in another show of continuity with the rest of the house, there is a judicious use of mid-century furniture. Many of the pieces in the original wing have been there from the start, including the dining table, which was made specially for the house and bears the scars from Eugenia’s youth when she and her siblings would play ping pong on it.
But this is not a house stuck in the past, as Martin and Eugenia have added elements that reflect their own lives and tastes. She has a long-standing connection with the arts, and the walls are graced by works by the likes of Joash Woodrow, John Maddison and her childhood friend, the prominent Irish artist Dorothy Cross. There is no shortage of printed fabrics by Fermoie, the company Martin set up with Tom Helme in 2012, although the palette and patterns of its appealing linens and cottons are too subtle to be attention grabbing. This is in contrast to the fabrics that cover the bunk beds in one of the spare rooms – antique Kente cloths, reflecting Martin’s Ghanaian heritage. It is a place of wonderful balance – between the old and new, the relaxed and the considered, a lifetime of cherished memories and, now, more room for new ones to be made.
Paul Massey1/15In keeping with the age of the building, Ciara has added to the family’s collection of mid-century pieces – this ceiling light was bought at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea. Ciara made loose covers for the existing dining chairs using Fermoie’s ‘Wicker’ linen.
Paul Massey2/15Mark Page of Circa 20th Century Antiques & Design supplied the Fifties armchairs in the sitting room.
Paul Massey3/15A trio of artworks by Heinz-Dieter Pietsch hangs in the sitting room.
Paul Massey4/15Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, this room has its original cedar panelling and a ‘Manhattan Corner Sofa’ from Kingcome Sofas. The cushions are made from a selection of linen fabrics – including ‘Quantock’ and ‘Chiltern’ – from Fermoie, the company that Martin co-founded with Tom Helme in 2012. Luke Irwin made the large bespoke rug.
Paul Massey5/15
Paul Massey6/15Yellow kitchen units from Scavolini add a splash of colour.
Paul Massey7/15
Paul Massey8/15In the new extension, a Sigmar stool is paired with a Fifties Italian dressing table by Guglielmo Ulrich from L & V Art and Design.
Paul Massey9/15Fermoie linens in Martin and Eugenia’s bedroom include ‘Cloud’ on the headboard and a cushion made from ‘Savernake’. The company’s glass and brass ‘Stoker Lamp Base’ is fitted with its ‘Gathered Bedwyn’ linen shade in yellow quartz. The woollen rug was made bespoke by Coral & Hive.
Paul Massey10/15Blinds made from Fermoie’s ‘Plain Linen’ in euphorbia frame the picture windows. The vintage Knoll armchair is one of a pair. A photograph by Eugenia’s friend, the Irish artist Dorothy Cross, hangs on the wall.
Paul Massey11/15A freestanding resin bath rests on ‘Montauk Marble’ tiles from Fired Earth.
Paul Massey12/15Colourful bedcovers made from Ghanaian Kente cloths stand out against walls in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Lime White’ paint. Locally sourced artworks depict traditional Irish scenes.
Paul Massey13/15The exterior walls are in Farrow & Ball’s ‘French Gray’ paint, which complements the weathered shingle roof.
Paul Massey14/15The outdoor furniture includes an Adirondack-style wooden sunlounger.
Paul Massey15/15
