This Kerry cottage has been brought back to life, and given a jaw-dropping new addition
Carefully restored and given an extension that makes the most of its incredible views, it's the perfect balance of tradition and innovation.
“Watching the weather here is hypnotising,” begins Brian Spain, owner of the Lost Cottage, which overlooks Caragh Lake, near Glenbeigh in Kerry. “The vista is so big, you could spend hours just watching the weather patterns move across the sky.”
The area is in fact designated as Ireland’s first International Dark Sky Reserve (with only three other European countries boasting areas with this designation). “On a clear night, the view of the Milky Way from here is exceptional.”
Born in Dublin, Brian has been coming to this part of Kerry “since before I could walk”, spending every school holiday at nearby Dooks all through his childhood. “I always knew I wanted to have a home here,” he says.
With his background in developing and running bars and restaurants, Brian spent five years living and working in Madrid and 20 in Paris. “In 2003, I came home for a visit from Paris and asked my friend Terence Murphy to come with me to look at a derelict cottage.
“The windows were blocked up, the roof was falling in, the floor was nothing more than mud, and a herd of wild goats had taken up residence. But… the view. Everyone thought I was mad. Terence immediately saw the potential.”
Brian bought it and took the following winter off, together with Terence, to work on it. “Terence is an artist,” states Brian. “I was just a pair of hands.” Looking at the work Terence has done on the Lost Cottage (making each of the bespoke window frames, doors and most of the furniture), it’s clear that Brian is not exaggerating.
Through those winter months, Brian and Terence worked to painstakingly restore the cottage, with passionate attention to detail and heritage materials.
“We made the new roof timbers out of larch wood cut from the forest behind the cottage – Terry and I dragging them out with the Pajero – it got pretty hairy at times,” Brian recalls, grinning.
“We knew we needed specialist help when it came to the lime render,” continues Brian, who called on Ed Byrne of the Traditional Lime Company in Carlow. Ed introduced Brian to Henry Thompson of OldBuilders Company, Birr, who then joined to assist with the interior and exterior rendering and hemp-lime insulation of the floors.
Although he boasts no official design training, other than a great eye, Brian designed, and Terence made, almost all the key pieces of furniture in the cottage. But there was nothing quick or easy about this exceptional renovation project, which continued on and off for more than ten years.
And even though Brian swore to himself, “I’d never mix my work life with Dooks, as it was always my place to retreat”, he moved back for good in 2018, enrolled his daughter in the local school and opened Emilie’s bakery in Glenbeigh (with business partner Emilie Mjorndal).
In July 2022, they went on to open a second Emilie’s bakery and café in Killorglin (both spaces designed and fitted out by Brian and Terence). Between running the cafés and managing the Lost Cottage as a holiday rental, Brian’s work and family life is now firmly ensconced in the Kingdom of Kerry.
But back to the renovation story. “It was 2016 before we completely finished the original part of the property (which includes the kitchen, living room and back twin bedroom),” continues Brian. “Then I began to start thinking about Phase 2.”
Enter architect Maxime Laroussi, director of the award-winning Urban Agency (a Dublin-based design agency with offices also in Copenhagen and Lyon), who Brian brought on board to design the extension.
What you see in the images – the extension to the rear of the original cottage, with a simple gable form and structure that mirrors the original vernacular building, is in fact made of poured concrete.
“We took inspiration from the Oberrealta Chapel,” Brian says as he shows me a picture of it on his phone. A tiny, yet completely perfect building; it looks like a sculpture of a house. Cast completely in concrete, it has no gutters, no door, no window. It’s just a perfect square with an apex roof.
Speaking about the Lost Cottage project, Maxime Laroussi said that he “became inspired by how it was possible to use something that was a problem” like rust “and turn it into a beautiful solution”. He wanted to create something that, in patina, texture and tone, would sit well within the rugged Kerry landscape, and not only weather well, but deepen in character over time.
After much experimentation, Urban Agency discovered that iron-oxide powder, typically used to boost iron levels in soil, could be mixed with water and used like paint on the surface of concrete to create this rustic, textured exterior.
“We used wide-plank Douglas fir boards to build the formwork for the structure,” explains Brian, “which created the timber finish effect.” Ingeniously, Brian and Terence then went on to reuse those Douglas fir boards to make various pieces of bespoke furniture throughout the house, namely the kitchen table, the headboards, and bathroom countertop in the en suite.
The result is a unique extension, in seamless concrete form, connected to the original cottage by a glazed link, which adds a master bedroom, complete with breathtaking picture window wall, and unique en suite. “Lying in the sunken bath at night,” says Brian, “looking up through the skylight at the sweep of unfettered stars above, is very special.”
The Lost Cottage is available to rent through uniquehomestays.com.
Photography: Ruth Maria Murphy
This feature originally appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2022 issue of IMAGE Interiors.
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