{"id":30314,"date":"2025-09-19T05:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T05:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/30314\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T05:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T05:45:12","slug":"i-squeezed-a-whole-house-into-a-side-passage-in-bray-the-results-inside-might-surprise-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/30314\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I squeezed a whole house into a side passage in Bray \u2013 the results inside might surprise you\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architect Mark Monaghan achieved what many would believe to be impossible with his bright, semi-detached three bed behind a tiny 10ft-wide facade\n<\/p>\n

Asking price: \u20ac575,000<\/p>\n

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald (01) 2866630<\/p>\n

\u200bAt one point in the 1965 Beatles film Help!, the famous mop-topped band appear to live in four adjoining \u2018two-up-two-downs\u2019. Each one enters via his own front door. But when they get inside, it is one huge open-plan space that they all share.<\/p>\n

It is this iconic scene that architect Mark Monaghan says springs to mind when he thinks of his own home. \u201cThat\u2019s always stuck with me,\u201d he says. \u201cFrom the outside, it looks like it should fit into its environment, but once you go inside, there\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t have that feeling of space that most Irish houses just don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Architect<\/p>\n

Architect and home owner Mark Monaghan<\/p>\n

Monaghan, who has his own practice \u2013 \u00adMarchitecture \u2013 specialises largely in domestic projects and has achieved an illusion similar to the Fab Four\u2019s trick of the eye with his own home, which at first glance, looks like something wedged into a space so narrow Paul McCartney couldn\u2019t swing his bass guitar.<\/p>\n

Inside, it is a different story, where the substantial living space could accommodate The Beatles and their entourage.<\/p>\n

Monaghan\u2019s home is tied to the story of his young adult life and career in a profound sense.<\/p>\n

While he was still in college in 2004, and the banks were still flinging money at young folk, he took the opportunity to buy the house next door to his current home, a three-bed semi at the end of a cul-de-sac in Killarney Heights in Bray, Co Wicklow. He had noticed this house came with a much larger than normal side passage.<\/p>\n

But then came the financial crisis of 2008, and the housing market collapse that followed. Monaghan found that not only was he the proud owner of a home he couldn\u2019t afford to live in, but having newly qualified as an architect, he was armed with skills nobody had much use for amid the rubble of a devastated construction industry.<\/p>\n

What happened next is a testament to both his creative problem-solving and sheer determination, which allowed him to turn what could have been a financial millstone into an opportunity to showcase exactly what he does best: fitting substantial, well-designed homes into spaces that look impossible.<\/p>\n

\"Open-plan<\/p>\n

Open-plan kitchen\/living\/dining room<\/p>\n

Having rented out the original house, it was Christmas 2014 when Monaghan says he decided to treat himself to a design challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided it would be fun over Christmas to have a design exercise, just to keep myself entertained \u2013 to see what I could fit in the side garden of this house that I owned. The front of it is only 10 feet wide. It doesn\u2019t look like it should fit anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

But by then, Monaghan had developed something of a specialty. \u201cI think I\u2019ve always been quite creative, and it just ended up being my career, getting weird sites that people would say, \u2018Can we fit something here?\u2019 … I got really good at reading the planning laws and understanding what you could get away with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of three bathrooms<\/p>\n

That Christmas exercise that was to eventually become Monaghan\u2019s home took three months to develop into a proper design, then a full year to secure planning permission. Getting funding proved another challenge entirely, with the project ultimately taking five years from start to finish.<\/p>\n

The result is a striking black-clad house that manages to be both dramatically modern and respectful of its 1970s estate context. \u201cThey\u2019re all red brick, semi-detached houses with a particular rhythm when you drive through the street,\u201d Monaghan explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want it to look like a house that was out of step. I deliberately made it black, so it reads as one with the original two houses. When you look through the estate, it still looks right. And then this black house sort of hides around the corner,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 10-foot wide front of 97a Killarney Heights in Bray<\/p>\n

A lesson in contextual design, the house reveals itself only as you approach. From the street, the narrow frontage gives little away, but step inside and Monaghan\u2019s philosophy becomes clear. \u201cOur main thing is to make sure any house is bright and light. We like to introduce volumes of space houses don\u2019t normally have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the constrained site, No 97a offers three bedrooms and three bathrooms, side parking for two cars and a substantial private garden.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of three bedrooms<\/p>\n

The interior follows Monaghan\u2019s strict three-colour rule: \u201cWe stick to three colours in any house. In this house, the colours are white, grey, and then the oak wood. Nothing outside of that is allowed, apart from the furniture and artworks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rooflights flood the spaces with natural light, while the main living area features a double-height ceiling and doors that are almost three metres high.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The first floor landing, with rooflight<\/p>\n

The master bedroom includes a hidden en suite, accessed through what appears to be built-in wardrobes, complete with a frameless glass rooflight above the shower.<\/p>\n

The house has an A2 BER, thanks in part to an air-to-water heating system and high-performance aluminium windows. There is a converted attic space accessed by a spiral staircase, and a 7 sq m timber garden cabin that serves as a home office.<\/p>\n

Monaghan\u2019s path to this achievement wasn\u2019t straightforward. He spent five years trying to get into architecture college, then took a circuitous route through his studies, working for various Dublin firms and studying Architectural Technology before finally graduating as an architect at 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky because I had all those years working for firms, so I was sort of in demand during the recession. I\u2019m also an architectural technologist, so I had a good background. I became quite hireable \u2013 you could hire me and get a two for one, basically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The large back garden<\/p>\n

Even so, work was scarce. \u201cI spent seven months on the dole, and then I ended up working for a company for free. I just walked in and said, \u2018Can I work for you for free until I find somebody who will actually pay me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

That persistence paid off, and after working in a number of different firms, he eventually established Marchitecture in 2016.<\/p>\n

Today, his practice focuses exclusively on residential work. \u201cPretty much all I do is domestic, one-off houses. Taking those skills and doing what I\u2019m good at. I\u2019d previously worked on big projects, but I just didn\u2019t like working on projects that take years to complete. I prefer small projects with quick turnovers, always designing something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The garden office<\/p>\n

Moving into his own creation after years in \u201ccold, miserable and damp\u201d Georgian basement flats was revelatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I finally moved into a really nice, A-rated house, it felt like living in a hotel. And then when you go away to other hotels, you feel like they aren\u2019t as nice as home,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The house reflects Monaghan\u2019s broader interests too \u2013 he\u2019s an accomplished musician with a substantial guitar collection, including a prized 1969 Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Flying V, which is displayed on the living room wall.<\/p>\n

He even served as executive producer on Northern Irish indie band Wynona Bleach\u2019s 2022 album Moonsoake.<\/p>\n

Now, having proven what\u2019s possible on an apparently impossible site, Monaghan is looking for his next challenge. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to find a site elsewhere in Co Wicklow, where I can have a little more space for my dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

To quote Ringo in the film \u2013 \u201cThere\u2019s more here than meets the eye.\u201d Sherry FitzGerald is seeking offers in the region of \u20ac575,000.<\/p>\n

For more on Mark Monaghan\u2019s work, see marchitecture.ie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architect Mark Monaghan achieved what many would believe to be impossible with his bright, semi-detached three bed behind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,898],"class_list":{"0":"post-30314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-latest-news-ticker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}