A New England Christmas in Holywood

In the paeans of architecture the 1960s didn’t always hit the right note. But if you have an ear – and more importantly an eye – for that sort of thing then these often overlooked gems can really shine – especially at Christmas.

- EDITORIAL BY MANDI MILLAR. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ASHLEY MORRISON.

And that’s exactly what happened 10 years ago when Belfast couple Alan and Marie spotted this diamond in the rough on the edge of Holywood, Co. Down.

‘We'd worked on a number of renovations in the past and could see potential in a property even if it wasn’t that obvious,’ says Marie who's recently retired after a career in marketing.

So when they spotted this detached home - in an exclusive enclave of one-offs in the grounds of a former period property - they looked beyond its dubious presentation and saw the home of their dreams.

‘I remember Alan and I gave each other a sneaky thumbs-up when the estate agent wasn’t looking during the viewing!’ laughs Marie.

‘The location was perfect, not far from shops, restaurants and lovely walks, yet well tucked away.’

And not even the scale of work the couple knew was involved in this transformation put them off.

Project managing the entire process, Marie and Alan set about conjuring a New England-style lodge from this old Belfast chalet bungalow.

‘We did loads of computer mock-ups of how we envisaged the inside and out as it can be difficult visualising spaces in your head or on paper,’ continues Marie.

‘It was actually a lot of fun and thankfully Alan’s background in IT gave us a head start so we were actually able to take on the entire design ourselves.

'Once we'd done that we realised we had more than enough space within the existing footprint so there was no need for an extension with the additional time and paperwork that would have involved.'