I’ve loved bringing a derelict house in West Cork back to life

“Focus on the task you set for yourself each day. If you are kangoing, only think about the end of your chisel going around each stone, enjoy the process – you are building your forever home.”

That’s the advice of designer Virginie Laveau who is almost single-handedly restoring a derelict property in West Cork, and turning it into her dream home.

Virginie, originally from France and living in Cork since 1999, is documenting the project on her Instagram account where her followers are enthralled by her determination, grit and tenacity. She shares frequent time lapse videos, and says the process is as much for herself to look back on, to show herself how far she’s come.

The 44-year-old arriving here 25 years ago, when she was 19, thinking she’d stay for six months and become fully fluent in English.

Six months turned to 25 years, and the tenacious French woman has had a career in IT, worked as a horticulture therapist, with Cork Association for Autism, and has been self-employed since 2014.

Virginie is a familiar sight at markets all over Ireland, where she sells handcrafted jewellery and her kimonos which she designs here and produces in India, which she calls her other home from home.

For the past 13 years, she had rented a house-share near The Lough, and admits she never had a major ‘calling’ to own her own house because her landlord was so good to her.

But while travelling to Bantry Market in 2015, she fell in love with what was to be her future home.

I climbed over the wall to look at it, when I got to the trees behind the house I pictured an ‘L’ shape table and my friends around it and my best friend serving wine to everyone. I felt this was the place.

In July, 2022, she signed on the dotted line and the place was hers! Virginie wasn’t at all daunted by the epic challenge she had taken on: a derelict cottage, no doors, no windows, no septic tank, and in need of two new roofs.

“I grew up on building sites, my father restored old houses, and seeing old buildings being brought back to life was always a passion of mine.”

Naturally, the restoration project hasn’t been without its twists and turns along the way, with some lessons learned the hard way.

“I spent the first year at the end of a kango hammer to remove all the old concrete – and repoint the walls with lime. I remember I started out with a hand-held chisel and a hammer (I was afraid I would take down the walls), and by the end of an entire afternoon I hadn’t even covered a square metre, so I went to buy myself my first hammer drill with a chisel bit and two weeks later I bought a professional Makita kango hammer.”

Virginie painstakingly researched how to use hemp and lime to insulate the walls – a slow and laborious process - but found a quicker way to do it. The end result will be to have a comfortable, and extremely dry house.

Through acquaintances at Bantry Market, she got a contact for her builder, “an amazing man and his second equally amazing”, as the house needed a new roof, windows, the works.

“I was blessed by the gods to have found the two of them, and through them I met my electrician and plumber,” she said.

For a year and half, she slept in her van outside the house, when working on it . She ‘officially’ moved in on her birthday this year on April 29 even though she didn’t have a toilet, electricity or running water.

It was the only thing I wanted – to be in my house. I’m able to wash in the river which is two minutes from the house, or in a 40 litre bucket when it’s too late.

“To be honest, not having electricity has been the least of my worries – I’ve a generator and I can charge an awful lot from my van. And I have my Insta famous 1960 gas cooker to cook dinner,” she said.

Breaking her shoulder mid-way through, after missing a step on the stairs, was an unfortunate blip, but she always sees the positives.

Her builder ended up doing work she had originally planned on doing herself, which saved her a lot of time.

“When I look back, it was a blessing. I would have probably fallen off the ladder insulating the high ceilings in the kitchen on my own,” she said.

Virginie hasn’t put any timeline on the project.

I’m working as fast as I can, four days per week on the house, three days trading at markets, making jewellery late in the evenings, two days per months running our art collective with a few friends in Midleton - the Wildflower Collective. So it will be finished when it will be finished but it’s really taking shape right now.

“I remember I bought The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle, and that book looked at me for years, I never opened it. But today I’m living it. I have learnt to live in the present, it is magic!”

At no point has she felt like giving up, thanks to that attitude, and the support of her wonderful friends and online community too. She credits a lot of her resourcefulness to her upbringing.

“My parents had me young and separated when I was seven. Following a family tragedy that same year, I grew up quickly. I moved into my own flat when I was 16 until I came to Ireland when I was 19. You can sit and cry or get up and move on.

“I moved to Ireland. I met my best friend Susan the first week I arrived in Ireland. Her family has become my family, her son Ryan is my godson.

Ireland has been so good to me on so many levels. Personally, professionally. Moving here was the best decision I’ve ever made.

“If you gave me a magic wand today to change anything, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. I’m grateful for all the experiences who made me who I am today.”

She financed the house buy through a Credit Union loan and the project through savings and her work. She has so far invested around €100,000 into the build. Virginie also qualified for the county council derelict housing grant, and well grant, worth a combined €76,000. She has four months left out of the 13 months to complete the task and she feels on track with it.

“To qualify, I must have certified electricity and also plumbing, tax clearance from my main builder, all my invoices, a flushing toilet, boiling kettle, a heating system and a bed in place by October,” she said, unfazed.

“I’ve an awful lot of energy – I’m not sure if it’s undiagnosed ADHD, but whatever it is, it’s a blessing! If there were 48 hours in the day, I’d still ask for more.

“My only worry right now is what I’ll do when I’m finished with this project…”

But Virginie is looking forward to having more creative time for her jewellery-making in her future studio in her forever home.

Cork is most definitely home now for this lady, and her precious rescue dog Manny: “It’s actually very similar to where I grew up in Limoges in south-west France, except for the sea.

“The plan is to live off-grid, water- and energy-wise. And hopefully fully off-grid in terms of food maybe in the years to come. When people ask me if I feel proud of what I’m doing, I don’t, I feel grateful. 

So grateful to be fulfilling my dream of bringing an old house back to life. It’s not about the end destination but the journey. 

"I’m a firm believer that what you send out is what you get, and I feel so grateful that the universe decided to give me this chance.”

Follow Virginie at @onthevergeonline on Instagram or Facebook