A German couple run their interior design business from one of the first prefab houses in Ireland, which is by the sea in Co Cork
Michael Haberbosch and Monica Hary ran the Mimo interior design shop (made up from both of their names) in Cork city for years, using their experience of working for designers such as Dieter Rams in Germany. They now run Mimo from their home by the sea in Fountainstown, Co Cork, which doubles up as a furniture showroom.
How did you come to live here?
Michael: We moved here five years ago, in 2004. A customer of ours came in one day and said, ‘I have a house for you. My tenant is moving out and I think it would be ideal for you.’
The house was built in 1953 and was one of the first prefab houses, it came from Sweden. The owner’s parents lived in Cork city and wanted a seaside holiday home.
The whole coast used to have holiday homes on it but now there are huge bungalows where people live.
I had no idea where Fountainstown was but I drove out here with the owner and said, yes, immediately – but that I would have to talk to Monika.
When she saw it she said, no way, mainly because it was so dark but then she stepped out on the decking overlooking the sea and said, yes.
But then we decided to close the shop and move back to Germany.
Monika: when we closed our shop in Cork city to go back to Germany we started getting so many orders for things. People would say, ‘we hear you’re leaving, can we order something before you go?’
The orders would take eight to 10 weeks to arrive and then more orders were coming in and finally we said, well maybe we could stay but only if we move to the countryside or seaside.
Michael: Then the owner of this house saw me and said, ‘you’re still here!’ We moved in in October and had a lot of work to do.
What attracted you to the house?
Michael: The fact that it was in the countryside, you can see the sea from the house and we wanted the challenge.
So you weren’t frightened about the prospect of doing it up?
Michael: When you’re 35 years in the business you can immediately see the potential.
Monika: Owners would have done far more to it; we invested a lot but we are only renting although we intend to live here for a while.
Do you miss the city?
Monika: Not at all
Michael: Not really – I fly once a year to London, Berlin and Paris so it’s OK.
If you go to these design fairs in Milan and Cologne it’s enough. You might want the city when you’re young and are going to the disco but we don’t need this any more.
Monika: We have friends to dinner and we sit out on the decking. They can stay overnight if they like and all summer we are like a B+B to our German friends and family, they love to come here.
What did you do to the house?
Michael: We painted the house inside and outside. The brick hearth was in red, which was too much red with the wood walls and windows, so we painted the hearth black and white, and the windows white to break up the space. And we sanded down the floor, put in a SieMatic kitchen and built a new deck.
Monika: The sloping garden was completely overgrown and for two years I was pulling out ivy and brambles and then I began planting.
The hydrangea was nearly dead but now it is back and I love the fuchsia hedge. I found stone steps beneath the weeds and rubble.
I love gardening and learned the hard way what plants grow by the sea. First I would put plants in and they died, then I would put more plants in. The lesson I learned here is that you need patience, which is not my best characteristic.
Michael: The flat roof was leaking and the landlord decided to put a new roof on and I suggested he put a room in while he was at it. So now we have a guest room up there. At the same time the builders connected the house to an external utility room and covered over a back yard.
Are you happy with how the house has turned out?
Michael: Sure I like a very simple house. People in Ireland say wooden houses don’t last but in Sweden and other places they last for years.
I love the small houses I see in magazines designed by wonderful Japanese guys who build really nice, functional homes.
The problem with some projects in the latest design magazines is that when people build they really overdo it.
Some of the architecture is too much for me. Those big houses in concrete seem as if they are making their own graveyards. And look at these people living on hills – do you have to have a swimming pool and a whirlpool overlooking the city?
Why is there a bicycle on your wall?
Michael: Two weeks after I bought it I had a heart attack so I hung it up there but I will start riding it again soon.
What is it like living with things you sell?
Michael: Since we have had this house we have bought the things we really like for the first time. In making decisions about what to have, Monika says, ‘I want this’, and I say, ‘I’m taking this’, and so we build it up step-by-step. We do make compromises though: why spend €3,000 for a guest bed when you can buy one for €900?
We both worked with the designer Dieter Rams in Frankfurt. I was absolutely inspired by him. He designed radios, televisions, record players and tape machines for Braun – which are no longer made – and they are said to have inspired some Apple computer designs. I have collected pieces he designed for Braun.
I really like the simplicity of his designs. He said design should last forever yet people are always changing design by changing the colour and shape to make it new and attractive.
He talked about a record player and said he could change the arm or body to alter the design but that doesn’t help anybody. He designed a record player where, when you put the arm down on the record, there was no connection from the needle to the speakers for the three seconds, so you didn’t hear the scratching noise, just the start of the music. This is something positive for the user: his thinking is my thinking. He was like a hero for me, I always looked up to him.
He had such great ideas. He said it was getting impossible to buy a simple shelving system – they now come with so many hangers and drawers – if someone designs shelving now it is always complicated. Dieter designed the Vitsoe shelving that we sell.
We also have a table produced by Anthologie Quartett and a floor lamp from Artemide by the designer Ettore Sottsass. He doesn’t follow fashions. That is exactly why I like him, I never follow any fashions and I like people who do not conform with the standard.
We have a Torso 1982 chair from Cassina, designed by Paolo Deganello (the red Corbusier armchair is also by Cassina) which is like a scultpure. I like it because it is two things, a chaise longue and an armchair, so again, not just a standard armchair.
If everybody had a Mercedes I wouldn’t have one, unless it was an old model, it’s not my way. I have my own brain and follow my own ideas.
I think this is one reason why people like buying from me; I show them things that other people wouldn’t offer them. If people are happy, then I’m happy.
Your house is full of amazing original modern furniture and bits and pieces
Michael: I have the prototype wooden leg splint that the Eames’s designed for the US Navy and through which they honed their moulded plywood technique that they use to make furniture.
I have Alessi pieces that are 40 years old which I began collecting in Germany.
I have always been a collector. There is more that I want but we have no more space.
Monika: No more, we’re not allowed to buy anything else.
Michael: I will send it all to a museum in Dublin.
Mimo, tel: 021-4833 443 and 086 859 3044
