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HOTY: Former nursing home transformed into dream home in Wicklow

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February 27, 2025
Blogs

HOTY: Former nursing home transformed into dream home in Wicklow

This year's series will deliver a fresh batch of stunning houses every week, celebrating creativity, individuality, and clever design in homes across the country.

Click through the photo gallery above to peek inside the three home from last night's episode.

Angela Lee, Cork

Angela, her husband and their children live in this one-of-a-kind home in Cork.

Though they bought the home as a new build in 2000, it is almost unrecognisable to what it looked like all those years ago thanks to Angela's passion for interior design. With a combination of structural changes and - more importantly - upcycling and DIY elements, she has created a truly unique home.

For her, the biggest thing is to be fearless when it comes to mixing styles and colours and to create something truly unexpected.

Bernard & Liz Lyons, Dublin

When Bernard and Liz first purchased the home in 1986, it was a semi-detached dormer bungalow in need of renovation and they spent the first few years doing up each room, one by one.

In 2004, they felt very lucky when the other half of the semi-d became available to buy so they could achieve more living space. Years later, in 2023, they undertook a major remodel of the house with the help of architect Brendan Money of RMA architects to give a new lease of life to the home.

They wanted more light, more indoor plants, sustainability, better flow from area to area, and to increase their BER rating to A2. Their son, Drew, an interior designer, helped the couple to embrace the concept of biophilic design bringing the benefits of green space and nature inside.

This was inspired by Bernard and Liz's passion for organic vegetable gardening where they really feel the benefits of spending time in nature.

Lynne Clarke and Nick Drew, Wicklow

Lynne and Nick live in Wicklow with their young daughter and dog. Their home, built in 1862, was formerly a nursing home which had been left vacant for nearly a decade. The couple bought the house in 2022 and with it, took on a massive project.

Over the next two years an extensive renovation took place where they demolished the entire rear, built an extension, replaced all windows with appropriate period style sash windows whilst retaining any original features they could.

The family also worked hard to bring the entire house up to a BER A3 rating.