With two small children, Liz and Padraig Nolan were finding their 1970s house in Drogheda a little cramped. They needed more space and when Liz’s parents offered them a site for building a new house, it sounded like the perfect solution. Both Liz and Padraig are from farming backgrounds and Padraig in particular relished the idea of a move back to the open countryside. Liz was a little sorry to leave a good neighbourhood and her lovely neighbours, but loved the idea of building their own home.
Their architect, Kieran Lally, helped to select the best site for building and the couple gave him a brief for the design of their new home. ‘The site is beautiful, in rolling countryside and we wanted to take full advantage of that by building a house that looked outwards, with glazing to frame the views and rooms following the path of the sun, so that the whole house is filled with light,’ explains Liz. ‘Our bedroom faces east for the morning light, the family area has south and west light and the living room east, west and south light.’