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.
Entryway: Drawing on the tones of the original tiled floor, owner and designer Suzie Mc Adam added the antique console and mural wallpaper based on an 18th-century seascape. Mural, Surface View. Ceiling pendant, Visual Comfort & Co., Paneling in Studio Green, Farrow & Ball
Stepping through its wide, paneled front door, she was smitten.
Article continues below‘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.
Drawing Room: Suzie was guided by the contrasting shapes, tones and textures of her antiques and art to design this space. Chinoiserie mirror and Egyptian floor lamp, The Store Yard. Antique armchairs in Pierre Frey’s Mombasa. Sofa, The Store Yard; in Pierre Frey’s Murano Gold. Bespoke ottoman in Pierre Frey’s Lounet. Lily side table (left), Tom Faulkner
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.
'I had the freedom to be more intuitive with my own home; I didn’t have a set scheme – this felt like a process of discovery,' says Suzie.
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.’
Drawing Room: Suzie commissioned the artist Michael Dillon to paint the Egyptian-style ceiling decoration. 1970s credenza, 1stDibs. Vintage Persian rug, The Store Yard. Curtains in Pierre Frey’s Les Palmes D’Alma I and II. Artwork, sourced from Laurent Chalvignac Antiquité
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.
'The kitchen doors lead to the garden, where smooth lawns dotted with fruit trees and coastal flora tumble to the sea,' says Suzie.
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.
Kitchen: The original 1790s architecture provided the starting point for the new cabinets; the tiles are hand-painted, and Suzie designed the island as a movable, free-standing piece of furniture. Walls in Flint, Little Greene. Range, La Cornue. Tiles, Victorian Ceramics. Picture light, Collier Webb
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.
Boy's Bedroom: Suzie designed the furled canopies to feel like hammocks, adding classical bobbin beds and a scenic wallpaper for an escapist effect. Ceiling in Bone China Blue, Little Greene. Stratus wallpaper, House of Hackney. Canopies in Regates, Pierre Frey
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’.
Main Bedroom: The foliage of the wallpaper is echoed in the four-poster bed. Cherry Kawasaki wallpaper, Pierre Frey. Custom four-poster bed made by Porte Italia.
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.
Dining Area: The arched banquette and dining table were designed by Suzie to look like antiques. Wall lamps, Le Grand Mogul in Modena, Italy. Chairs, Adam’s auctioneers in Dublin; covered in Linwood’s Yanagi
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.
Ensuite Bathroom: In the en suite the contrasting marbles have the feel of classical paneling. Shower mixer, Francone Bespoke Taps
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.
Powder Room: 'I wanted it to feel like a jewel box of black lacquer and green,’ says Suzie, who used vintage lights, originally designed for a 1970s Gucci store, to accentuate the dramatic atmosphere. Basin, vintage. Taps, Drummonds. Les Singes Savants wallpaper in Noir, Pierre Frey
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.’
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