Presented by architect Hugh Wallace, The Great House Revival follows homeowners across Ireland as they try to restore and transform their derelict properties into comfortable homes fit for today – while saving a piece of the country's architectural heritage.
In this new series, Hugh meets homeowners who are transforming a cowshed on a ruined grand estate, a rotten farmhouse with a secret, a former seaside guesthouse, a derelict vernacular cottage, a Burren herder's hut, an old grocery shop, tumbling cabins and a depopulated village’s former Post House, across the country from Cork to Donegal.
In this week's episode, viewers saw a neglected home in West Cork transformed into a dream home on a €300,000 budget.
Secondary school teacher Grace Cotter and her landscape gardener husband John decided to restore what they thought was a modest Georgian farmhouse in the hills of Kilmacsimon for them and their soon to be three children in West Cork.
Sitting high in the hills of West Cork, Rockhouse had been left neglected and unloved and had become a shelter for nearby farming cows, as well as the odd rodent or two.
With the property costing €240,000, John tried to do most of the work himself. Missing out on weekends and family holidays, to make a home for his growing family, he soon found that Rockhouse’s revival was far from straightforward.
Click through the photo gallery above to see the before and after snaps. Watch the episode back on RTÉ Player now.
