Selling their salmon farming business, Paula and John King had to make a decision about where to live for the foreseeable future. The picturesque fishing village of Ardmore in Co. Waterford was a place in which they already had links, and someone alerted them to a house shortly to come on the market. ‘We could have lived anywhere, but Ardmore was by the sea, and that was a huge attraction for me,’ says Paula, who originally trained as a Marine Biologist at St Andrews University in Scotland. ‘There are five completely different shorelines in Ardmore, from rocky inlets to sandy beaches.’ And indeed as husband John points out, the diversity of the marine topography around Ardmore is reflected in the place names; Goat Island, Shell Beach, Pebble Beach, Whiting Bay.
The dining table is a sewing table from an old convent in Cappoquin, the couple bought it at auction. The chairs were also bought at auction in mealy’s of Callan. ‘The auctioneer was annoyed that people hadnot returned to the auction in time after lunch,’ explains John. ‘As i walked through the door he declared, ‘i’ll sell the lot for fifty!’ so i bought it without having any idea what it was. it turned out to be eight mahogany dining chairs.’ The bookcase was made by John’s father. A bow-fronted display cabinet was bought by John’s mother by mistake in an auction