In the early 1990s when Ireland was beginning to become cool in the eyes of the world and our top comedians, musicians and writers ruled pop culture, husband and wife Tom Keane and Claire Graham set up Urbana, an emporium of all things homeware with a focus on small designer items.
The pair were also travelling regularly to Copenhagen to buy antique Scandinavian stoves through their company, Ovne Stoves, and to see family – Graham’s nephew Lukas Forchhammer fronts Danish band Lukas Graham.
It was on a trip to west Cork to install several of these stoves in actor Jeremy Irons’s rose-pink keep, Kilcoe Castle, that they first spotted the large detached 1930s property on a bend in the road between Roscarbery and Leap.
The couple had a strong business and had even supplied wood burners to the production designers for the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
As parents to young children, then aged two and four, they sold up their place in Kilmainham and headed southwest. Within a week at school the kids had Cork accents, says Keane.
The couple fell for the fine-sized detached dwelling, formerly Moloney General Stores, with lands that run down to the river Roury, a waterway with salmon in it, according to locals, says Keane.
They spent the next two years living in a house up a mountain and opened a home store in Leap, while work got under way on the refurbishment. They sold half of the property – an older mill with wheel and mill race – about 10 years later.
Living over the shop, they built an interiors business that welcomed a variety of well-known faces to the premises, from locals such as chef Darina Allen to film producer David Puttnam, while actors Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan have both dropped in; Ronan has a property in Ballydehob.
The lure is the high-low mix of practical Scandinavian designs, from cushions to throws and crockery, and things you don’t think you need such as tide clocks, Charvet tea towels, cashmere socks and the Shelia Maid air drier, a contemporary take on the Victorian design that is really effective at indoor garment drying.
The store won the craft gift shop category at the Irish Times Best Shop in Ireland awards in 2016 and was named best independent retailer at the 2017 Image Interiors & Living Design Awards.
They renovated the top two floors first, dry-lining all the walls, adding new old floors from Victorian Salvage and insulating. “The only thing we didn’t do was modernise the single-glaze sash windows,” says Keane.
A dozen years ago, they did the garden level, tanking it and insulating it to eliminate damp. This is where the kitchen’s bifold doors open out to decks and terraces that lead down to the river and frame sylvan views. There’s a living area and a guest bedroom with en suite also at this level.
The mixed-use building is now D1 Ber-rated and extends to about 213sq m (2,300sq ft). This includes about 46sq m (500sq feet) of retail space, comprising two adjoining rooms. There is also a dual-aspect sittingroom at entrance level fitted with a 1920s Danish stove and French doors opening on to a Juliet balcony overlooking the garden.
On the first floor there are views of Coillte-run Dromillihy woods from the back and at night they leave the windows open and are lulled to sleep by the sound of the river’s running water.
The couple initially put the property up for sale last year, seeking €595,000. This price included buying the business. They decided to continue to trade the business online as they remain agents for the aforementioned air driers and had sale-agreed the property, but it fell though earlier this month.
The couple are downsizing and have already bought a place in Dublin, returning to Kilmainham, where Keane says they’ve kept a seat for him in the local, The Royal Oak.
They’re also looking for a smaller place in the area, for they are hooked on west Cork. “It is incredibly creative and welcoming,” says Keane.
The mixed-use property, including the shop, is on the market through Charles McCarthy, seeking €455,000.
