The Great House Revival (2018)

With three children all under the age of 5, Belinda and Lorcan Carpenter have decided to convert three farmyard barns into their dream family home. Set in the picturesque hills of the Wicklow Carlow border on the grounds of Belinda’s childhood home Munny House, the barns need extensive renovation and conversion work in order to transform the dilapidated donkey house into a bespoke family home.

This week, Karen Whyte and her partner Donnacha Curley, purchased Grove House a few years ago with a plan to save it from dereliction. Empty for years, the building was damp, water-damaged, and largely unloved. A native of Westport, Karen is keen to restore the building back to the grand home it once was.

Ronan and Charles are the proud owners of Kilglass House in Longford, an 18th century former rectory in dire need of rescuing. Born and reared in London, Ronan is fulfilling his immigrant parent’s dream of returning home to Ireland.

Borrisoleigh native Frances Doherty kept a close eye on the sale of her childhood doctor’s house over the years before purchasing it in 2017 for €67,000. Together with her husband, Tom, the couple’s dream is to create their forever home in Frances’s childhood village. With a coach house and numerous outbuildings, Frances plans to have the project finished in time for her imminent retirement.

Carolyn and Michael McDonnell, together with Carolyn’s brother Henry, joined together to purchase this expansive property in Castletown Geoghegan. Built during the famine, the property was last in use as a hotel but it had deteriorated at a surprisingly fast rate over its three unoccupied years.