Cork · 12 March 2024

Dear neighbour,

I opened Warm Gathering Villas after years of walking through Cork houses that had been finished yet somehow never settled. Too much shine. Too little place for wet coats. Fireplaces treated as ornaments rather than working hearts of the room. West Cork taught me otherwise: wind at the gable, salt on the glass, and furniture that forgives muddy boots after a walk to the strand.

Our studio sits on Oliver Plunkett Street, close enough to the city that clients can call in with samples, and close enough to the roads west that we can be at a site by lunch. We are a small practice. That is deliberate. One conversation at a time, one house at a time — harvest dinners, quiet winters, visiting family who stay a fortnight.

We do not chase finishes that ignore Irish rain. We prefer limewash that breathes, timber that can be oiled again, and seating deep enough for a Sunday paper. If a room already has good bones — a chimney breast, a flagged floor, a long window to the orchard — we protect those first.

Should you be thinking of a kitchen that cooks for twelve, a hearth room for November evenings, or a guest wing that feels like hospitality rather than storage, write to us. Bring the awkward truths: the dog, the drafts, the room nobody uses. Those are the clues.

With warm regards,
Aoife Brennan
Principal, Warm Gathering Villas