A place to return to after the hunt

Interior designers' homes often end up as showcases for their talents, even if they're not going to be on view. Anyone familiar with Isabel Morton's passion for period houses and her dramatic use of colour will expect an eye-catching restoration. They won't be disappointed.

Isabel and her husband John Bourke work together in the family business of restoring and decorating period houses. Their newly-acquired house in Glenageary - a Victorian three-storey house - while strictly a family home has been given the "Morton-Bourke" treatment.

Isabel and John had lived in their previous house for almost a quarter of a century, extending it "like an elastic band" as the children grew.

They moved into the 19th century house last December, after a seven-year hunt for the perfect home. It had to be in the D·n Laoghaire area, so the children would keep their friends and local business contacts could continue.

Originally on 13.5 acres, the house was built by Arthur Samuels for the Archbishop of Dublin's solicitor and several "legal eagles" have lived here through the years. By coincidence, Isabel and John's daughter Jessica is studying law, carrying on the tradition.

By the time the family actually moved after the long search, their previous home was piled high with furniture collected by Isabel for her fictitious "perfect house".

"Our brief for the new place was that it must look like we'd lived there for 24 years. I told the plasterers I wanted the walls to look lumpy because I wasn't looking for perfection - the poor workmen were very confused."

Isabel's good humour is much in evidence in the house, which was decorated with a deliberate sense of fun. Free from client restraints, her decor fantasies had free reign. "I wanted it to be classical, but a bit naughty. Otherwise the house would be too imposing. It needed a touch of unreality."

The entrance hall, with its fine plasterwork, has been given a Florentine look by artist Lorna Loughneen. A nude reclines full-length across one wall and cherubs gambol on the other. Trompe-l'oeil pediments are painted over the doors.

The formal diningroom has a Byzantine opulence with crimson walls and splashes of gold leaf. Across the hall are two adjoining sittingrooms, decorated in shades of butter yellow and gold. A stained-glass conservatory overlooks the rose garden.

Hanging from the drawingroom ceiling is a magnificent and very costly chandelier, called "the divorce chandelier" by the family because Isabel "just had to have it". Each bedroom has been arranged with its own tiny lobby, with bathroom off. Daughter Jessica wanted an Eastern-style room, so purple, tangerine and crimson saris drape her four-poster bed. Jordan opted for a funky "stars and stripes" theme, while Josh's room with its everyday bunk beds has escaped a make-over - so far.

A 19th century French bed found in one of Isabel's auction forays has been installed in the guest bedroom. Looking out across the garden, you can glimpse the spire of Dalkey church from Isabel and John's primrose bedroom over the front porch.

"We were working on 20 other places at the same time we were doing up this house," says Isabel. "It was in good condition, but the restoration work took more time than we had expected.

"The mantelpieces had been replaced in the 1920s, so I had to have them made up and we needed more bathrooms. The kitchen was three rooms, with original blue and white tiles which were a nightmare. We re-enamelled the 70-year-old Aga and changed it to gas."

Passionate about period houses, Isabel is dismissive of the new breed of interior designers who merely "frilly up" houses. Apart from having to know the owner's pattern of life, old houses themselves will often tell you how they should be, she says.

"When I see a room, I know exactly where everything should be positioned and exactly what colour it should be. People often have an idea of what they want but they can't decipher it."

Isabel and John's service extends to bidding at auctions for antique pieces for client's homes. If something special comes up, they buy it knowing they will find a home for it.

The couple never do get away from work, agrees Isabel. "Nine to five doesn't work for us. John comes home in the evening and we have a site meeting there and then. It's a sickness. Even our friends tend to be those who are also obsessed.

"Because it's my baby, my passion, I'm constantly looking at property, both for ourselves and other people. "We're always raiding salvage yards and we practically live in the Old Mould Company. We dress like every other builder on site, so I'm always in trainers and painting dungarees. "I thought I'd be upset moving. It's a strange thing - it's your family and your possessions make a home what it is. When I go back to the old house, though it's still full of furniture, it's so silent."