Ross Allta - Show House

Words by Julie Keary

Photography by Tom Taheny

Launched at the end of September, Ross Allta is a truly mesmerizing development located on the edge of Galway City. The tree-lined Rosshill Road was spectacular in all its Autumn glory on the day of our photoshoot. Ross Allta meaning 'Wild Wood' is the perfect setting for these superb luxurious homes. 

The specification of these hollow-core floored homes are of the highest quality, with A-rated UPVC windows and doors. They also include an A rated air to water heat pump with underfloor heating throughout & have the added benefit of a heat recovery ventilation system. A truly modern family home. 

Eadaoin Holden of Holden Interiors was commissioned to give the show house the 'wow' factor. On her first viewing, she knew exactly how she would execute the interior design of this generously sized family home. The house had all the important elements of a cleverly designed luxury home. Apart from the very attractive exterior, she could see that this was an extremely practical architecturally designed house. It was clear that plenty of consideration had been given to the all-important interior layout. The proportions of the rooms were excellent & there was a great flow from room to room, fantastic light and potential for superb storage. This home was a delight to work on and the developers, Gort Gleann Developments, trusted her & worked with her to design and execute interiors that would be beneficial to any prospective buyers. 

The light-filled wide hallway is accessed through a nice sized draft lobby, leading directly into the open plan living/dining area and kitchen. One of Eadaoin’s first suggestions was the floor to ceiling glazed double doors with sidelights, allowing the light to flow between the hall and the dining/living area. The next thing that catches the eye is the wide plank dark limed timber effect flooring that this designer used throughout the ground floor. 

It is different, striking in colour and enhances the continuity and flow of the whole area. The open plan design of the rear of the house is perfect, spacious in size without being too big and here is where Eadaoin excelled with her carefully thought out furniture and accessory choices and her signature sheer curtains. For the furniture all sourced through Home Gallery, she went with a mixture of textures, using upholstered pieces interspersed with a mix of dark stained wood, glass and polished chrome, all set against a colour scheme of muted moody taupes. A stunning curved sofa differentiates the living space from the dining room. She felt that a conventional sofa would have split the room and destroyed the easy flow from one area to the next. 

The oversized dark timber dining table with a herringbone-patterned top sits beautifully on the dark limed floor which is given a lift with polished chrome legs. She matched it with very comfortable fabric dining chairs that have a lovely detailed chrome handle on the rear. The herringbone table is complemented by a matching herringbone sideboard, which is again elevated with an unusual chrome leg detail. 

A very dramatic drop light hangs above the dining table and then a more understated living area light is fitted directly onto the ceiling, hence no obstructing the view of the television. 

One of this designer's pet hates is having the brackets and TV cables on view, so she designed a wall hung unit that has storage beneath and a frame for the TV above. A pair of circular oversized chrome coffee tables and a chrome shelf unit bring enough contrast to lift the room and colour scheme and allow the addition of personal touches, without appearing over the top. 

A mix of simple textured sheer roller blinds and floor to ceiling wave style sheer curtains allow daylight to stream through, but also remove the glare when dining or watching TV during the day. At night time they provide privacy when both are closed together. 

Once you get over the beauty of the living area, you are drawn into the fabulous kitchen designed by Eadaoin in collaboration with Kreations Kitchens. She worked closely with the kitchen makers to get every detail just right. German in style with gold handle-free high gloss units & internal dark carcasses are highlighted with a range of recessed strip lights, both inside the units and underneath the open shelves. A full wall of floor to ceiling units were chosen to house the pantry, the pair of ovens and the integrated fridge freezers. With the rich taupe coloured high gloss doors & contrasting details in a black grained wood finish, Eadaoin didn't want to overpower the room, so she opted for a Dekton island and countertops in a lovely matt textured finish. This beautiful composite product is more durable and more heat resistant than granite or regular quartz. The island comes in one complete block with waterfall sides, with a mitre edge. Although expensive and time consuming to execute, it was worth it for the overall look of the island and counters. The Dekton was also used for the backsplash behind the hob and for the upstands. A black composite Franke sink sits into the worktop. Overhead the hob is a feature box extractor hood clad to match the kitchen units & with open shelves on either side with integrated strip lighting. Clean lines, practicality and simplicity are very important to this designer and this is evident right down to the kitchen blind, which is in a sheer PVC finish that can be washed or scrubbed if necessary, this is faced with a simple straight recessed pelmet in the black grained wood finish.

The kitchen leads into a large utility room that can only be described as the utility of dreams! The high gloss taupe units with black details are continued in here with the washing machine and dryer placed at an ergonomic height to protect the back when filling the machines. A sturdy shelf housed under each of the machines can be pulled out to support loaded washing baskets, definitely every home owner's dream. A separate wall mounted floating shelf houses a shirt rail for airing clothes. Eadaoin certainly thought of everything here. Very large 1,200mm x 600mm floor tiles complete the kitchen and utility - a difficult task for tilers, but stunning in their execution.

The ground floor also contains a sitting room, a den and a guest WC with walk-in shower. Again these rooms are exquisite in design. The sitting room is painted in a muted green shade, as is the hall, but it’s hard to tell exactly what shade it is, as it tends to vary with the colour of the furniture and accessories. Two beautiful deep buttoned suede effect sofas are complemented with a pair of delicate soft pink velvet occasional chairs and an abundance of scatter cushions. A dramatic oversized chrome coffee table sits on a large luxurious rug in soft ivory shades. With three of the walls painted in the muted green shade, one dramatic wall is then panelled, acting as a backdrop for the TV, and a large painted glass panel is used as the backdrop for the insert stove fire. A striking black granite low shelf runs along the same wall, acting as both a hearth and a shelf for accessories. 

The last room on the ground floor could be used for a range of purposes, depending on the purchasers’ choice. It would be the perfect fifth bedroom, home office or playroom/den. In this case, Eadaoin has designed it with a growing family in mind. A playroom for smaller children or a TV/computer game room with techie stuff for teens. The raised wall mounted units were designed to be multifunctional & house both storage boxes and shelving. Again she designed a wall hung TV unit similar to the one in the living area. Raising the units gives the room a more spacious feel and doesn’t take away from the stunning dark floor.

Back in the hall, a dramatic wide staircase oozes pure simplicity and accentuates this lovely architectural space. A simple round dark handrail on the wall side, with a contemporary glass bannister on the other, leads the eye up to two long windows and an amazing drop light. The dark chocolate stained oak stairs is almost black in colour & contrast beautifully against the two tones of the hall and landing walls. The first-floor landing is screened with a wrap-around half wall, topped with dark stained timber for dramatic effect. 

As the designer kept the continuity downstairs she also did so upstairs. A luscious textured dark evergreen coloured carpet runs from the landing on into all four of the spacious bedrooms and also the generously proportioned linen room. Now I say evergreen, but again this designer likes to confuse, so as you walk from room to room the carpet takes on a different hue depending on the colour scheme in each bedroom. The sleek style internal doors and joinery throughout are in a painted white finish, adding contrast against the painted walls. Two elegant deep orange armchairs sit on the landing, taking in the view of the woodland opposite the house. 

The master bedroom consists of a generous walk-in wardrobe, substantial bedroom area and sizable fully tiled en suite. Again Eadaoin has opted for opulent dark furniture with a feature upholstered bed, muted blue and khaki hue velvets are evident throughout the room. 

The bathroom, guest WC/shower room and main en suite in this home all have walk-in showers with sleek channel drains and extra-large tiles on all floors and walls. Vanity units are wall hung with some delightful details in backlit recesses combining product storage and lovely soft atmospheric light. 

The spacious second bedroom again is en suite with another walk-in wardrobe. Each bedroom has a different scheme with upholstered beds, linen and accessories selected to match. The designer’s attention to detail is equally as enthusiastic in all four bedrooms. The wall to wall storage in the form of sliding wardrobes in the remaining two rooms have textured wood finish doors and each room has a unit suitable for study or a dressing table, with block floating shelves above. Every bedroom has either floor to ceiling blackout curtains or understated roman blinds, fitted right up to the ceiling and all have separate sheer roller blinds for privacy.

For this show house Eadaoin, the designer has thought of everything. She created a stunning luxury home while keeping it simple and of course very practical and it has to be said she also took maintenance into account. Her attention to detail is second to none. It goes without saying that the lucky family who will live in this home will have acquired one of Galway's finest houses and have the benefit of one of the West’s top Interior Designers. Although Eadaoin is very humble about her stunning creation, she adamantly gives credit to the developers and builders and all of the tradespeople involved. It is a show house of which she can be really proud. She also gives huge credit to Des Curley and the Team at Home Gallery Interiors, who went above and beyond to work with her to source all of the furniture and accessories needed and to install everything in record time for the launch of this development. It was a true team effort. 

Get the Look 

Interior Design - Holden Interiors.

Furniture & Accessories - Home Gallery Interiors.

Kitchen - Kreation Kitchens.

Kitchen Tiles - Tubs & Tiles.

Lighting - Home Gallery Interiors.

Wall Hung Units - Kreation Kitchens.

Beds - Home Gallery Interiors.

Sliding Wardrobes - Kreation Kitchens.

Bed Linen - Home Gallery Interiors.

Carpets - Tom Dempsey Flooring.

Curtains & Blinds – Galway Curtain & Blinds.

Bathroom Ware & Tiles - Tubs & Tiles.

Selling Agents - DNG Maxwell Heaslip & Leonard, 11 St Francis St, Galway.

Developer & Builder - Gort Gleann Developments

Architects: O’Neill - O’Malley

Civil & Structural Engineers - Tobin Consulting

Mechanical & Electrical Engineers - Delap & Waller