“Permanent” and “evanescent” describe utterly opposite conditions. Or do they? Like a dish of molecular gastronomy that looks like a cherry on a sprinkling of dirt – but is actually a tiny tomato on a bed of pulverized olives – appearances can be deceiving. There’s no trompe l’oeil trickery or subversive deployment of materials in this Irish cottage, but as reimagined by Dublin-based Róisín Lafferty, the small getaway on County Galway’s Atlantic coast vibrates between fluid and concrete, between austerity and richness.
Rustic cottages aren’t always rude; some can be quite comfy. But in essence, they are not like other homes. Smaller, with fewer amenities, they are loved (at least by those who don’t live in them full time) for the way they allow one to feel hardy and resourceful. While Lafferty’s approach to this abode isn’t historicist – and the property isn’t lacking creature comforts – her minimalist strategy is an articulate design equivalent of the physical simplicity that generally pervades a little house in the countryside.
Initially, Lafferty was just engaged in tackling the bathrooms, but once she gave the place a good, hard look, she couldn’t help proposing additional interventions. “When I approach a project,” explains Lafferty, “I can’t help but look at the overall property and analyze how the spaces connect, how you circulate through the house. I find it is always better to look at a house in its entirety and in a holistic way. And the most important thing is to always retain a sense of balance and harmony throughout.”
Happily, the client was open to Lafferty’s suggestions, which included opening up the ground floor (previously dominated by a dark hallway and “endless doors”) and making every space more accessible and inviting. “The kitchen was angled and jutting out in odd directions,” recalls Lafferty. And the snug (den) – which you could only enter from the hallway – was a completely wasted room with an odd-shaped diagonal chimney breast eating into it. “I reconfigured the kitchen to be wider and to fit within the line of the low ceiling, and installed a new, more streamlined chimney breast and flue with a double-sided, wood-burning stove that visually connects the lounge and snug.”
Lafferty’s material palette – which takes cues from the expansive landscape stretching in every direction – underscores her determination to invest the home with an all-encompassing cohesion. Travertine, polished plaster, limed and smoked oak, quartzite and marble give the simply furnished spaces an engrossing sense of layered depth. “I did not want to detract from the wild and rugged beauty outside the windows,” says Lafferty. “In a way, the whole house has been inspired by the surrounding nature, and its configuration has been simplified so that views are framed and connections are celebrated.”
Boldly patterned Sea Foam quartzite (from Miller Brothers Stone in Wicklow) covers the kitchen island, countertop and backsplash, its abundance suggesting the solidity of a windswept hill. A low oak plinth in the dining room could be kin to a rock shelf jutting into the sea. “The landscape of Connemara is truly wild and beautiful,” enthuses Lafferty, “with a depth of tone that you can scarcely see elsewhere. There are undulating hills, valleys of shoulder-high ferns, barren plateaus, rivers and lakes. And you can experience four seasons in any one given day. There is a sense of poetry for me in the depth of color and mood here that could captivate forever.”
Photography by Ruth Maria Murphy.
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