Say cheese: Plenty of reasons to smile for buyers of stunningly restored Kerry creamery
ANYONE with an understanding of the role of the creamery in times gone by will testify to its value for social networking.
Here at this hub of milk collection and butter production, very little was off limits. Gossip whispered over milk churns filtered through the parish before you could say “pour me a glass of creamy goodness”.
Then along came the bulk tanker, cutting this lifeline for the socially isolated.
While creameries in some communities have been restored thanks to locals keen to protect elements of our cultural heritage, many have fallen into disrepair.
Such was the fate of the Co Kerry creamery featured here, until an enterprising design duo clapped eyes on it more than 15 years ago.
“We had a place in Inch and we’d been splitting our time between Ireland and the UK for many years. Then Walter came across the creamery in Camp, which was really derelict, and he brought me over the mountain to see it. I fell in love.” So says Avril Castellazzo, the English wife of Italian furniture maker Walter Castellazzo, of WCD Interiors. Their home in Inch, on the Dingle Peninsula, is at the other side of the mountain to Camp, where the Old Creamery is located.
The work done by the couple to turn the Old Creamery into a superlative contemporary/vintage dwelling began 15 years ago, when they replaced the roof to secure it against the elements.
Windows were replaced with triple-glazed replicas of the originals to preserve the creamery’s aesthetic (Munster Joinery). The original creamery boiler was whipped out and installed at the property’s entrance. “It’s a fabulous piece of sculpture,” says Avril, adding that it serves as a nod to the building’s rich heritage.
It also inspired the colour of the property.
“That rusty colour was the one thing I wanted to infuse throughout the building,” she says.
There was a long hiatus between the initial burst of work in 2015 and the finishing out of the property, which only began in December last year. In the intervening years, the duo was busy running their British shop in Highgate village, WCD Interiors.
From an inauspicious start of loading furniture into their Land Rover more than 30 years ago to flog in the then trend-setting Camden Market, they built up a business that included a celebrity clientele.
During these years, Walter — with a gimlet eye for architectural salvage — was also busy stockpiling items only he could envision a role for in their still largely derelict Old Creamery.
“I recall asking him: ‘Are we going to be living in a castle?’ when he arrived home one day with a gorgeous set of Moroccan doors,” Avril says.
Those teak doors, with 1920s Liberty Crittal transom windows overhead, are stunningly showcased in the Old Creamery, where they open from the main, dazzling, cavernous, medieval-feel entertainment/living space into another entertainment room with custom bar (built by Walter) and a countertop he made from a tree trunk salvaged from Egypt’s Suez Canal.
“I did not have Walt’s vision, but he could see where things would go. I’d say his background in set design helped,” Avril says.
When Avril first met him, he was involved in building film sets but had a talent for making furniture. At the time he lived in a converted factory in London’s Archway.
“I remember my mother telling people that her daughter was living in a building with no doors, except for the loos,” Avril laughs. She encouraged him to turn his talent for design into developing his own collection of furniture — they had the factory space to do so.
From there, sales followed in Camden Market. Eventually, with help from Walter’s family, the Highgate shop opened.
Two years ago, the couple sold that business and, after finishing a project in the Cotswolds, returned in earnest to the Old Creamery project late last year.
“We went at it hell for leather. We worked on it every single day and we had a fantastic local team that never let us down — including electrician John Coakley, who bent to all of my requests, and architectural technician Michael Burke, who did all of the drawings. We drove him nuts with all the changes. Clash Heating and Plumbing in Tralee did the underfloor heating in the ground floor and in the glass walkway. We couldn’t have done it without the team and we didn’t have one bad experience,”Avril says.
The professionalism extended to the garden, where landscaper and Chelsea Flower Show judge Stephen Crisp took care of the design.
“Stephen is phenomenal. We first got to know him at Camden Market and he now looks after the garden at Winfield House, the American ambassador’s residence in London. He came over here and did the design,” says Avril.
The planting was done over a hectic two days in March: 2,000 plants, in keeping with the vernacular of the area, including native Irish fruit trees. Thanks to the nurturing of Daire Walsh from nearby Castlegregory, they were all ready to be planted on the day.
There were plenty hands on deck, including Gregg Power — a Limerick native and head gardener at Sezincote, a stately home in the Cotswolds. Most of the planting is in raised beds or raised planters, with the wider outdoor area lain to gravel for ease of maintenance.
A wooden deck through lovely double doors off the “bar” room is just one of a couple of outdoor seating areas.
Indoors is littered with great design features. The showstopping main entertainment space under the Old Creamery’s original vaulted ceiling has striking doors made in Hamburg, Germany.
A sliding panelled barn door opens into the glass walkway, which leads to separate living quarters in a linked building.
Built on the footprint of the original creamery’s storage buildings, these quarters include an Irish country chic kitchen with custom-made cabinetry and high end appliances, an adjoining dining and living area that acts as a cosy relaxation space or for more intimate entertaining, and an elegant downstairs bathroom with rolltop bath and striking panelling.
Walter did the panelling, made all of the bathroom vanity units, and fitted all of the beautiful windowsills in both buildings, using wood with beautiful olive wood accents sourced in Italy 10 years ago.
“Everything you see in the photographs made of wood, he did it,”Avril says. He also fitted a fabulous set of salvaged grey gates to shield the glass walkway and courtyard from passersby.
The couple say their mission was to carry out a restoration “where history and modernity met in perfect harmony”, while creating a unique and exquisite place to live.
They got the reaction they hoped for from the creamery’s former manager, local man Jack Downing.
“He literally took me by the hand, looked me in the eyes, and said: ‘You guys have done a wonderful job’,” Avril says.
Having retained all of the creamery’s old ledgers and membership cards, they tested Jack on his knowledge and he was able to reel off farmers’ names without hesitation. All of those records are stored in a gorgeous home office in the Old Creamery (along with 30 years of Walter’s drawings), which could be turned into a third en suite bedroom.
The two existing bedrooms, with high quality en suites, are upstairs in the separate living quarters across the glass walkway.
There’s a mezzanine area (teen den?) in the original building, and, off it, a Juliette balcony — from where a hoist was operated to lift churns back onto the farmers’ carts.
You’ll find plenty of nods to the building’s industrial past scattered about the house and grounds, even a cow sculpture that was once part of a charity Cow Parade.
If you were to calibrate the Old Creamery’s age based on the post-restoration physical evidence, or based on its energy efficiency (an incredible A3), you’d say it’s in the flower of youth. You’d have to say too that the Castellazzos have outdone themselves.
“The whole project is totally us. We love the idea of mixing styles and eras,” says Avril.
“Our aesthetic is eclectic, and all of the furniture is unique. It shows what you can do when you have a vision. Walt had a very specific vision for the Old Creamery and, even though we are selling it now, it was important for him to finish it out as if it was going to be our own home.” Having put heart and soul into the Old Creamery, the couple explain the decision to sell up.
“We’re older now, we have the house in Inch, and we can’t keep everything. We’d love if a younger version of ourselves, bought it,”the couple say.
They feel it may suit someone in the creative industry – a musician, actor, or craftsperson (there is a separate workshop on the 0.34 acre site). It will also suit someone with a love of the natural landscape as it’s embedded in the Dingle Peninsula, near a slew of terrific beaches (Castlegregory is seven minutes away).
Farranfore Airport is a 30-minute drive and Cork city is just under two hours.
Selling the Old Creamery are Richard Banahan, of Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes, and Hilary Stephenson, of Sherry FitzGerald Stephenson Crean. They expect strong interest, including from overseas. Their guide price for this magnificent 243sq m building is €695,000.
Masterfully restored property with a wonderful blend of the traditional, the industrial and the eclectic. Truly singular home in a fabulous landscape. Looks like a fun place to live.
