See Inside This Edwardian Home In Dublin With An Impressive Modern Mezzanine - The Gloss Magazine

See Inside This Edwardian Home In Dublin With An Impressive Modern Mezzanine

A design that blends historical features with contemporary style to produce a unique home for modern day family living …

When an Irish couple returned to Dublin with their family after living abroad, they bought an Edwardian house dating from 1902. The home needed a full renovation and aesthetic refresh, and they enlisted the help of Sherrard Design, who they came across while browsing inspiration for the project. What might have been a daunting task became an exciting challenge for founder Gillian Sherrard, who’s no stranger to fixing up period properties for modern family lifestyles.

In the hallway, Sherrard Design designed the floor using Tuscan stone sourced on a trip to Italy. The light fixture is by Ochre. The console table is by Modet from Lost Weekend.

The period house featured a modern two-storey extension to the rear. On entering the period section of the house, you are confronted with the original wooden staircase with a light-filled atrium above it. “We wanted to do something striking with this hallway, so we introduced a cuboid patterned floor with a design that goes right back to ancient Greece,” explains Sherrard. This pattern is fitting for a period home and was created using three different marbles. Sherrard and her client planned a trip to Tuscany and were able to visit the quarries where the stone originated from. A bespoke Ochre light fitting hangs down the centre to blend contemporary design with the period features.

“Normally a project like this, including its summer house and studio at the rear, would take 18 months but the clients were adamant they wanted it finished in a year.”

The sofa is by Knoll; the standard lamp and pendant light are both by Celine Wright; linen curtains; all at Lost Weekend.

Like the hallway, it was important to both Sherrard and the owners that the other rooms in the original house retained their period features and generously proportioned high ceilings. Subtle tweaks were added to blend modern touches with the original features, like new marble inserts fixed into the fireplaces, while reproduction internal doors were replaced with accurate replicas.

The archway in the main hallway leads to a contemporary cedarwood extension that was practically demolished and rebuilt. This structure creates a contrast and division with the original Edwardian structure. Very large new Dutch steel windows were fitted at the side and rear of the modern extension. The windows in the kitchen area measure over six metres in height and look out to the landscaped garden. The existing concrete first floor was cut out of the previous extension and a double height mezzanine was installed, which now features a library. Reading nooks allow the couple’s children to curl up and read books from the family’s extensive library.

The kitchen was designed by Sherrard Design and manufactured by Abington Design House. The brass pendant light is by Anour from Nordic Elements.

The kitchen was completely reconfigured with a long bank of tall kitchen units in reeded solid French oak. Two of these doors are secret doors and open into the living area, which is still part of the contemporary extension. This concealed kitchen door detail was spotted when Sherrard took a trip to Paris with the client. “We were both struggling with what the finish on the door should be, so we jumped at this,” explains Sherrard who took out her measuring tape, captured hundreds of photographs and was able to replicate it with Abington Design.

The kitchen floor is tiled in Thala limestone which flows out onto the patio, helping to draw the colours of the garden into the kitchen. The outside space was just as important as the interior; Sherrard worked very closely with landscape architect Helena Dold, collaborating on every detail from the water feature to the sculptures, planting and external lighting.

“I was surrounded by eight or nine sub-contractors, so it wasn’t for the faint-hearted. But the project was completed bang on time.”

In the bedroom, the lights are by Contain from Lost Weekend.

A bespoke vanity unit designed for the primary en suite using Breccia Capraia marble, sourced by Sherrard and her clients on a trip to Tuscany.

On the first floor are four bedrooms. The principal bedroom opens onto an en suite, complete with a bespoke vanity unit designed with Breccia Capraia marble, sourced by Sherrard and her clients on their trip to Tuscany.

In the children’s room, the bed was designed by Sherrard Design and manufactured by Abington Design House. The blinds were made from Pierre Frey fabric; the lights are by Helle Mardahl; both from Lost Weekend.

In the cinema room, the walls are covered in silk velvet fabric from Osborne and Little. The console is by La Chance; the sofa is by Meridiani; the rug is by Knots; all from Lost Weekend.

In the bar, the stools are by Modet; the lights are by Contain; all from Lost Weekend.

“It was wonderful collaborating with great clients and the end result is a design that blends historical features with contemporary individual style to produce a home for modern day living.”

In the basement, a cinema room and bar area were added, with a softer colour palette introduced to create a more relaxing atmosphere. The walls are covered in a silk velvet fabric from Osborne and Little, with a thin upholstery foam layer behind it. A cashmere rug from Knots sits under a Meridiani sofa sourced in Milan on a buying trip with the client and Lost Weekend [Sherrard worked closely with the interior design shop and studio in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin to source furniture and lighting]. The bar area blends into the cinema room, featuring solid brass oak and Calacatta viola marble.

www.sherrarddesign.com@sherrard_design

General Contractor Halton Construction

Photography by Luke White @lukewhitephotography

SEE MORE: Lucinda Chambers On Her Colourful Home In Shepherd’s Bush

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