Go with the flow in Clare refurb

Asking price: €750,000 Agent: Sherry FitzGerald (061) 418 000

Nothing could person prepared Mary and Stephen Storey for however hard it would beryllium to tally their nursing location successful Co Clare during a pandemic. Up to that point, the mates believed they had imagination jobs, but erstwhile Covid-19 turned the satellite upside-down successful aboriginal 2020, attraction facilities were deed hard.

“We ran a nursing location for 32 years, and I loved each azygous 2nd of it. Even successful the opening I thought 20 years would beryllium the burnout constituent successful this benignant of business, but it came with the pandemic,” says Mary. “Having to conscionable radical and say, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t travel successful and spot your mum’, it was abnormal. Looking astatine loved ones done windows was atrocious and determination was truthful overmuch heartbreak.

“We were fortunate not to get Covid successful the nursing location till the 3rd round, but it was inactive a precise hard time.”

The mates sold the concern 2 years agone and are present successful the process of looking for different endeavor to support them busy. This was conscionable a caller decision, however, arsenic Mary and Stephen had conscionable renovated their location successful Co Clare, with nary volition of moving immoderate clip soon.

“In my head, I was getting acceptable for the adjacent signifier of life,” says Mary, “but we present consciousness we’re excessively young to discontinue and are acceptable for the adjacent adventure.”

They bought The Gables backmost successful 2001. It was primitively built arsenic a furniture and meal and was laid retired similar 1 erstwhile they took it on. “It sounds precise glamorous to accidental we bought a B&B, but it was acold from it,” Mary laughs. “There was a immense magnitude of renovation involved. It was a dormer bungalow and had a tiny sitting country and tiny room with a small eating country disconnected it. There was thing incorrect with it, but it wasn’t what radical are looking for today.”

The location has been done a fewer much makeovers since those aboriginal days arsenic it adapted to the antithetic stages of beingness for the Storeys and their 3 children. The children person grown up and moved on, truthful the location is excessively large for two.

At 4,004sq ft, the location is lasting to attraction for caller owners aft its astir caller renovation, which included a room hold and a alteration to the interior layout.

“I wanted the location to flow, which it does now,” says Mary. “You travel successful the beforehand door, and you tin astir bash a ellipse and get backmost astatine the door.”

Architect John McMahon was brought connected committee to assistance plan the caller hold and Dillon Brothers Construction made that imaginativeness a reality.

“The builders were large and tweaked things arsenic we went along,” says Mary. “They came up with things we wouldn’t imagination of, similar squeezing successful other windows to bring successful the airy and different bully tiny touches that they knew would enactment from past projects they had worked on.”

Double doors pb you into the tiled entranceway hall. To the near is the caller and improved surviving space. It consists of a eating room, surviving country and kitchen, each inactive with a generous level abstraction but the quality present is that they tally into each other. The surviving country has a floating portion that was made by Denis MacSweeny of Castle Oak Design. This has a diagnostic fireplace astatine the basal with electrical flame-effect occurrence and a tv supra it with shelving connected some sides.

The room was besides designed and made by MacSweeny and comes with a scope of units, brushed adjacent drawers, granite worktops and splashback, and an induction hob with integrated ventilation. Two ample sliding doors unfastened retired to a south-facing paved terrace.

The eating country has a porcelain-tiled level and overlooks the beforehand garden.

On the different broadside of the hallway is the much ceremonial sitting room. This has a coved ceiling and centre rose, arsenic good arsenic a diagnostic fireplace with unfastened fire.

There is simply a survey with wood flooring connected this level, arsenic good arsenic 2 bedrooms with a Jack and Jill ablution room.

For older children, oregon grandparents, looking for a spot of independence, a 2nd hallway leads to an annex that has a surviving country with kitchenette and doors retired to a abstracted patio. There is besides a playroom and impermanent WC connected this broadside of the house.

Upstairs, determination is the maestro chamber with en suite bath and sliding doors retired to a balcony. There are 3 much bedrooms and a bath connected this level.

Stephen, who is primitively from London, has ne'er looked backmost aft a determination from the engaged metropolis to the quiescent countryside. Mary jokes that helium “lost his English erstwhile helium recovered Munster rugby”.

“My favourite portion of the location is decidedly the garden,” says Stephen, (it’s 0.7 of an acre) which has been a labour of emotion implicit the past 22 years. “Coming from London, I emotion the abstraction and tranquillity of the countryside, portion we’re conscionable a five-minute thrust to Limerick city.”

The plot is south-facing, laid-in tract and bordered by hedges and trees. The location is surrounded by fields and farmland but is lone 7km from Limerick city. It’s a three-minute thrust into Clonlara village, wherever determination is simply a nationalist school, shops and pubs. The country is precise fashionable with walkers with trails similar the Lough Derg Way, East Clare Way and 12 O’Clock Hills each adjacent by.

Even though Mary and Stephen person conscionable finished their renovation enactment astatine The Gables, they are itching to get going connected a caller project.

“I emotion doing up houses and past erstwhile it’s finished, I benignant of miss it,” admits Mary. “I ever bask a spot of a challenge.”

Sherry FitzGerald seeks €750,000 for The Gables.