In 2022, the interior designer Suzie Mc Adam was happily settled in the Dublin townhouse that she had spent the two previous years renovating.
‘I didn’t see us moving for a while,’ she says. But then, one day, she had a call from an estate agent suggesting that Suzie had a look at this house – on behalf of her clients. Serendipitously, this property is on the same street as her last home.
Stepping through its wide, paneled front door, she was smitten.
‘I remember calling my husband and saying “we have to figure out a way to buy it”.’ It is easy to understand why. Built in the 1790s, the four-story, stucco-fronted Irish house design is set into a hillside terrace in the south of the city.
Previous owners had hardly touched its Georgian features: fireplaces, cornices, and floorboards were intact.
But it was the garden that ‘won’ her over. Smooth lawns, dotted with fruit trees and exotic, coastal flora, tumble to the sea.
A hidden tunnel leads to the beach. ‘I visualized long suppers in summer, crab-fishing with my sons in rock pools.’ There was a literary connection too – James Joyce mentioned the street in Ulysses.
In her studio practice, Suzie works to a client’s brief. Here, she had the freedom to be ‘more fluid and intuitive,’ she says. ‘I didn’t have a set scheme or concept. This felt like a process of discovery.’
She began by painting the house all white. Over time, she has added fabric and patterns inspired by the architecture, art, and coastal setting. ‘It has evolved.’
Upstairs, in the formal living room, she took inspiration from an abstract painting which she bought aged 18.
Its palette of burgundy, ochre, and green is echoed in the colors of the Egyptian-style ceiling decoration, painted by Michael Dillon.
She designed the radiator cover to mimic the curves of the 1970s credenza. The Perspex piano – ‘my Liberace moment,’ - is where Suzie is teaching her two boys to play.
Downstairs in the new kitchen, glazed doors open onto the garden. Here, she designed the arched cabinets to mimic the original, orangery-style windows. The grainy ‘oceanic’ texture of the quartz worktops nods to the craggy coastline.
She also commissioned the kitchen island, stained a rich brown to resemble a mahogany antique.
The free-standing piece can be moved; ‘It’s heavy, but useful for parties.’ The rope detailing refers to her husband’s previous career in the Navy.
There are other maritime references, too. In the entryway, the mural of an 18th-century sea battle might have always been there.
It is, in fact, a wallpaper, based on a painting in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Upstairs, in the boys’ shared bedroom, Suzie designed the furling canopies above each bed to look like a ship’s hammocks.
The cloud-patterned wallpaper appeals to her romantic sensibility, ‘like stepping into an old movie’.
That escapist air stretches to the main bedroom. Here, the ceiling soars to 3.2 meters high.
Inspired by a trip to the grand, neoclassical Ballyfin Demesne hotel, in the heart of Ireland, Suzie envisaged a ‘dramatic bed, draped in fabric… I felt this room could take it.’ For once, her husband disagreed.
The compromise is the metal four-poster bed with a domed canopy above. The fabric-lined headboard and crewel-work curtains soften the acoustics for bedtime stories – and provide a layer of insulation during gale-battered nights.
Since Suzie moved to the area, cold water swimming has become a weekly ‘ritual’ that she enjoys with other mothers from her sons’ school.
One of her favorite artworks in the house is by the Australian photomedia artist, Tamara Dean. The photograph captures a group of female swimmers moving through light-rippled waters. It captures the sense of ‘peace’ which Suzie feels when she is in the water.
A post-swim soak in the main bathroom is another ritual.
Here, she turned a Georgian chest of drawers into a vanity. White on the walls, the contrasting slabs of creamy travertine and plum-dark marble have the feel of classical paneling.
Could she ever get tired of this setting? ‘There’s a part of my creative brain that’s always open to change,’ she says. ‘But for now, I feel content.’
Love beautiful design ideas, expert advice, and inspiring decor trends? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.
