London born actress Angela Lansbury, well known for her role in the film Murder, She Wrote, had her house built in the southeast coast in County Cork, Ireland. She appointed Stephen Pearce to make a traditional farmhouse. A serene and inviting home. And here I quote part of the AD article which I found interesting:
The white, one-story structure with the slate roof is timeless in its rudimentary simplicity yet almost modern in its abstraction. Walls bow slightly, as though they had settled over time. “ It sits there like a loaf of bread,” says Lansbury.
“ We didn’t want to bring stuff over from London,” she says. “ We wanted to use Irish materials—Irish wood crafted by Irish woodworkers, and Irish linen. The draperies are horse blankets.” The ceramics were potted by Pearce.
She confirms the architectural simplicity by leaving the white walls bare. “ My husband never let me hang pictures because, he said, the windows are the pictures,” she recalls. “ The weather here changes the light so dramatically on the walls that you feel you’ re on a set. It’ s an artist’s dream house, full of lightness and brightness. It’s roomy, but it still feels cozy. It envelops me.”
Lansbury in the entrance. Love those floors, rustic and warm.
Every room is traditional Irish except for the size of the main room.
Reading area and breakfast table.
In the kitchen, a long dining table takes the spotlight, allowing meals to be made and enjoyed in the same space.
A serene master bedroom is tucked at the end of the first-floor hall.
The courtyard is protected from heavy winds. “I thought the roof would go in the first gale, so I strapped it down with steel. We’ve had 120-mile-an-hour winds, and the roof is still on,” says Pearce.
I find it extremely hard to find a celebrity house that I like, let alone love. I really love this one. What about you?
Photographs by Derry Moore
All images and information from
Architectural Digest.
