A CLASS act

GUIDED BY THE GEORGIAN FEATURES OF HER HOME, CIARA O’HALLORAN USED A PARED-BACK PALETTE TO CREATE A MELLOW INTERIOR

- RUTH CORBETT/SARA DAL ZOTTO

Open-plan area

‘We chose a wood veneer for our dining table to get the look and feel of real wood, but without having to worry about inevitable spills!’

BUY THE KEY PIECES

Dulwich extending dining table in oak, £2,770, Heal’s, is similar. Try Lara Natural chair, £129, Dunelm. Nelson Ball Bubble pendant, £505, Hay, is similar

"The modern OPEN-PLAN layout, with all rooms on one level, makes it CHILD-FRIENDLY. It’s the perfect mix of historic features and MODERN conveniences"

CIARA O’HALLORAN, HOMEOWNER

When her mother’s old school, which had once been a Georgian manor house, was redeveloped as apartments, Ciara and her husband Rian couldn’t resist buying into a slice of family history.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE PROPERTY?

‘My mum went to school here in the Seventies and I lived in the area as a child. When I relocated back to Cork with my husband and our newborn daughter in 2016, we were on the lookout to buy a home. The apartments came on the market in 2017, so we went for a look with my mum, to see how her old school had been transformed. We fell head over heels for it on that first viewing.’

WHAT DID YOU LOVE ABOUT IT?