Down the West: Inside this Warm Westend Family Home

Photography ny Nathalie Marquez Courtney

If there is one thing you can be sure of when house buying, it’s that not everything will go to plan. Whether it’s a small hiccup or a huge one, amidst the stress and madness, there can be beautiful moments of true serendipity, which was the case for Eoghan and Sarah O'Donnell, directors of the boutique Galway advertising agency Little & Large.

The couple had spent several months sale agreed on another property. The day they made the painful decision to walk away, this terraced house came up, a stone’s throw from where Sarah’s mother grew up. “We looked out the door and saw my nana’s house there on the corner, where she lived for over 50 years,” says Sarah. “We put an offer straight in, still in the room.”

“Our solicitor said it was the second-fastest sale she had ever completed”

 This good omen would turn out to prove true and, within days, they had the keys in their hands. Inside, their work was cut out for them. Though habitable, the property had been rented for several years, and was known locally to be a notorious student party house. “Someone told me more people used to go in and out the window than the door,” laughs Eoghan. “Whoever was living here before the house went for sale even got a full mariachi band into the backyard!”

Creating a warm and welcoming home that blends clean walls with elegant mid century furnishings

Now, it’s a calm and convivial family home. Downstairs, what was once a series of dark, compartmentalised rooms is a light-filled, open space, with a thoughtful extension that gives way to a sweet outdoor terrace.

Upstairs, a luxuriously large bathroom, complete with a standalone tub and roomy walk-in shower, sits beside the couple’s son Hugh’s cosy bedroom and the bright and airy main bedroom, with windows overlooking Galway’s in demand Westend neighbourhood.

Warm and elegant mid-century furniture, which the couple had been collecting long before they purchased the house, juxtaposes beautifully against clean, minimalist walls, which are dotted with playful vintage prints.

“Though we were never able to feather our own nests, we kept collecting furniture and art"

“We were always into interiors but always had small places, or places that weren’t our own” says Sarah. “Our dining table used to be in our office; we started our business at it, so it literally helped make this house happen.” 

A bumpy path to perfection, from unfortunate injuries to 233 days without a kitchen

While the home now feels easeful and quiet, there were plenty of bumps in the road. “Downstairs was open to the elements and absolute chaos for months on end,” laughs Sarah.

Moving in at the height of the pandemic meant getting tradespeople and materials was beyond tricky. “We lived upstairs, and just had a camping chair and camping sink downstairs,” Sarah recalls. “We went 233 days without a kitchen.”

Eoghan took on a huge amount of the work (and associated injuries – he ended up in hospital twice), both managing the renovations and carrying out a lot of it himself, learning as he went.

"I think patience was the biggest skill I learned”

“It was a strange one, because I was the apprentice, the project manager and the client. I had to plan it, do it and then be happy with the end of it.” And whatever about the beauty inside the house, the couple are just as in love with what’s going on outside; though they both hail from Galway, they spent several years working overseas and are relishing being immersed in a bustling Galway neighbourhood. “We wanted connection, and love how [city living] means you can come and go; things don’t have to be so planned. We’ve got something magic here.” 

@downthewest