A Natural Connection

A decision to move from the city to Wicklow has given Martina and Aaron the chance to create their dream country home, a calming and tranquil sanctuary surrounded by woodland.

-  PENNY CRAWFORD-COLLINS

Having both grown up in the midlands Martina Mahady and Aaron Doherty moved to Dublin for work and college. They rented an apartment in Stillorgan for a few years, both lovers of nature, they were craving a move to the country and a change in lifestyle. 'We both spent a lot of time hiking in Wicklow and had always dreamt of living here, we never thought we would be able to make it a reality so quickly as we had a very specific location and house type in mind. Then the perfect house project and location came up which gave us lots of room to put our own stamp on it,' explains Martina. Back in 2018, after viewing a few properties, they were lucky enough to stumble upon this property near Rathdrum, in a beautiful woodland setting on a tree lined road with the Avonbeg river flowing past. 'It was a lovely, cosy home with exposed beams and a mezzanine over the kitchen living area, but it had a small porch that wasn't very practical and it lacked light due to the placement of the small windows.' The couple could see it had huge potential. The setting was beautiful and it's only forty-five minutes drive from Dublin, and also near local towns and villages. We were excited at the prospect of turning it into a home that's truly connected to nature, our idea was to extend the kitchen and add outdoor living areas to create a home that maximised its setting,' says Martina.