Restoring Georgian grandeur to city life

Friday evenings after work when most of us are stuck in traffic jams, Laurette Hegarty and Joe Hogan close the front door of their South Frederick Street house and stroll down to the Pavilion Bar in Trinity or up to the Shelbourne for a few pints.

Four of their five children, the dog, cat and several budgerigars made the move from Foxrock to their restored early Georgian townhouse two years ago, after nine months of restoration work.

For barrister Joe Hogan, who grew up in a Victorian house in Dun Laoghaire, it was a dream come true. "The house was built in 1730, within living memory of the Battle of the Boyne. It's one of only a dozen houses of its type still being lived in. The Dublin Civic Trust had bought the house in 1996 from the New Ireland Assurance Company and made it structurally sound. Then they put it on the market and that's where we came in.

"The whole place was absolutely wrecked. The roof was partly off, windows out and trees and bushes were growing out of the walls. If you looked up from the ground floor you could see right up to the slates. There was no gas, no electricity and no water. It was little more than a shell. But there was a very good feel about it and even as it was, the house was quite impressive."

Having decided, the Hogans had just a day and a half to get their finance in place before tenders closed the following Tuesday. In addition to enclosing a cheque, the Dublin Civic Trust wanted bidders to outline their "dream plan" for the house. "I snatched time to do this between meetings and sent it off uncompleted. Lo and behold, out of 24 offers, ours was accepted. I explained that we were a family with five children, 15 budgies and a dog and cat. That meant the house wouldn't end up as an office or a hair salon.

"We employed conservation architect James Kelly to do the work and liaise with Ian Lumley of the Civic Trust. There was a good deal of debate as to the accuracy of the restoration. They used pictures of a similar house on Bridge Steet. I said I'd like to have a library like the Worth Library in Dr Steeven's Hospital but I wasn't allowed to have it. They used the Samuel Pepys library in London as a model instead."

The library on the first floor overlooking the street is painted a deep turquoise - one of the Dulux heritage colours which were used throughout the house. Like most of the house, the walls here are panelled and it is hard to believe that the tall shuttered Georgian windows at this level are not original. The slate fireplace, also new, is in the style of the period. One of the most charming things about 10 South Frederick Street is that it's not a sterile museum piece. Laurette, a solicitor, has her offices on the ground floor. Bright modern paintings hang everywhere around the house, the kitchen and bathroom are unashamedly up-to-the-minute and some parts of the house have been deliberately left untouched. It is something of a showpiece, however, and is open to the public.

"Most people would have restored the sittingroom door, but here and there, we have kept reminders of what the house used to be.

At one time, that door looked good in the middle of the shambles! You can see the repair jobs done where it has been beautifully filled in." The house slopes noticeably to the south, the effect of subsidence when next door was demolished. Everything slipped sideways and compensating wedges of matching timber have been added to the tops of some the doors.

"The crack on the staircase wall opens and closes," says Joe. "It's been doing it for 300 years and it will go on doing it for another 300," he says philosophically.

The panelled kitchen/break fast room is a very practical modern space with a Shaker look, built on the spot by the carpenters. Soft cream-painted units have steel handles and smart opaque glass doors; the worktops are black slate. On the third floor, in typical Georgian style, windows are smaller. The main bedroom to the back is blue-painted with a magnificent modern bathroom added for comfort.

"We can't have an 18th century bathroom. When we bought the house there were hanging lavatories attached to the house in awful condition," says Joe. The new bath is oldstyle, walls are painted cream and there are black tiles on the floor. An opaque glass door leading into the bathroom is flanked by two mirrored wardrobes, with lights above them.

Grown-up children Matthew, Peter, Philip and Rachel occupy three quaint attic rooms with sloping ceilings at the top of the house. And Merlin the dog has taken to the area like a duck to water. "Merlin has been befriended by all the local pubs and restaurants and has become very well-known in the area. He's the street pet."

In parts of the stone-flagged basement, you can hear people walking overhead in the street. Currently a warren of storerooms and a place to do the laundry, Joe has ambitious plans to install a gymnasium, sauna, a Greek-style bathroom and a guest bedroom .

Other plans to add a four storey glass atrium to the back wall will probably cost as much again as the £350,000 they have spent so far on the house, says Joe. "I do miss a garden, though I'm not a great gardener."

At the back of the house, the cheeping from five budgerigars and a quail often startles passers-by. "The best thing about living here is opening the front door on the quiet street early in the morning and hearing the church bells on Sunday. The last time we used the car was before Christmas to collect the turkey and the ham. We rarely even use taxis. I walk 15 minutes each way to work, we buy our wine three doors away at Dunne Crecenzis and we can walk home from the Shelbourne Bar after a pint on Saturday nights."