A Real Winner

This issue we catch up with Jen Sheahan whose renovated worker’s cottage in Rathmines was recently awarded the title of RTÉ One’s Home of the Year.

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When it came to purchasing her first home, Jen was always drawn to these workers’ cottages. ‘I had google alerts on in case one came up,’ she explains. ‘Luckily, at the end of 2018, one did and I got the keys in March 2019.

‘I’ve always been drawn to small spaces and combined with the history of these cottages I knew this was exactly the home I was looking for.

‘I actually got a letter from the niece of the previous owner who had to move into a nursing home, hence why the house went up for sale. She was able to inform me that her aunt had lived in the house for over 70 years. In fact, she had lived in the house as a child with her parents and four other siblings. I loved hearing the history of the home, which had always been a happy one for the owner, and her niece, who remembers staying here with her aunt too.’

When Jen purchased the home, it was clear that it had been well-loved and cared for, but it had no central heating. Instead a huge fireplace took up a large proportion of the downstairs space and there was no second floor. So as well as modernising the cottage, Jen also wanted to maximise the available living space.

‘I lived in the house as it was for nine months and during this time my architect Denis Gilbert got plans drawn up and approved with planning. This allowed me time to work out exactly what I wanted in terms of both the structural and decorative changes.