This Waterford home has been reimagined as a soulful coastal retreat shaped by the sea
Set within sight and sound of the sea, this Waterford home feels like a shell washed ashore, crafted in timber and stone, and filled with shifting shadows.
For Michael Sullivan and Anne Marie Kenneally, building their home on the Waterford coast was about more than creating a place to live. It was about crafting something soulful, a sanctuary shaped by natural materials, the surrounding landscape, and their deep connection to Ireland.
“They’re a very special couple,” says John Curran, founder and design principal of John Curran Architects. “Michael is full of ideas, one light bulb moment after another, and Anne Marie is the anchor who grounds those ideas and filters them into reality. They’re incredibly successful business owners in the US, but completely down to earth. What comes across again and again is their sense of decency and their care for people, animals and even the trees that shelter their courtyard.”
This commitment to authenticity carried through every stage of the project. Michael personally supervised the new build, while Anne Marie masterminded the interiors, from the minimalist kitchen to the backlit bathroom mirrors. “For an architect, they were the perfect clients,” Curran notes. “They wanted something true to its place, built from wood and stone, a home that was as much about soul as it was about shelter.”
The site, located at Whiting Bay between Youghal and Ardmore, set the tone. Within sight and sound of the sea, the home – named Solas na Curaí (“Light of the Currach”) – takes inspiration from an upturned currach boat resting on the shore. Large ribs of larch arch overhead, fastened with spruce laths to form an elegant airframe that drinks in the surrounding sea views. Nearby, a 200-year-old stone barn with arched openings anchors the composition. Built from the same locally quarried sandstone as the new structure, the barn is being restored to provide additional living accommodation. “The barn and the new house feel like close companions,” Curran says.
The home also forms part of a wider series, Airborne on the Atlantic, in which Curran explores coastal craftsmanship through shell-like timber structures that appear to hover over the land. “These houses are raised on stilts but feel almost like airships tethered to the ground,” he explains. “It’s about allowing the landscape to flow underneath and creating this cinematic meeting of ocean, sky, and airframe.”
Realising such a vision required meticulous planning. Every nut, bolt and joint was designed in advance, with over 100 detailed drawings prepared before construction began. The prefabricated timber frame, crafted in Galway by SIP Energy, arrived on site as a kit of parts. “The reward for that level of detail is that within eight weeks, you have a weather-tight shell ready for finishes,” Curran notes. “Nothing is left to chance.”
Light was treated as both a design tool and a material. Large expanses of glazing open the house to the south-facing sea views, while solar-control glass and external louvres protect against overheating. As the sun shifts westward, concealed roller blinds filter the evening light, and throughout the day, dappled patterns play across the interior surfaces. “The constantly shifting shadows are part of the architecture,” Curran says. “They animate the house.”
Material choices were equally considered, drawing on the rhythms of nature. Weathered larch ribs, sandstone walls in ochres and reds and dark zinc cladding all contribute to the shell-like form. “This home is about craft, texture, and colour,” Curran reflects. “It’s about natural materials that nourish the soul, echoing how this coastline allows you to breathe deeply and let go of stress.”
So, from its soaring, boat-hull ceiling to its dialogue with the stone barn, Solas na Curaí is both grounded and airborne, rooted in its site yet shaped by the sea.
“The most successful part,” Curran concludes, “is the feeling of inhabiting a coastal shell, a timber frame structure that moves away from the box and into something softer, more soulful, and deeply connected to Ireland’s coastline.”
Photography: Celtic Interiors
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