Welcome to the renovation of our derelict farmhouse in Ireland.
In April 2023 we completed the purchase of our 100 year old derelict Irish farmhouse and 200 year old out buildings, that had been empty for 15+ years. Moving to Ireland from the UK, we began the long process of restoring & renovating the stone built farmhouse ourselves, and only being DIYers, a long process we are sure it will be.
☕ Help us buy a new or refurbished Range for the Kitchen: www.buymeacoffee.com/thecornerhouseproject
⚡ We lived completely off grid for 6 months before finally being connected to mains electric
🌧️We harvest rain water for showering, washing of clothes & washing up.
Join us as we learn, hopefully keep our sanity & no doubt make mistakes along the way, with our ultimate goal of chasing the good life of simplicity & self-sufficiency and homesteading on just under an acre of land in the beautiful, rural location of lovely Leitrim, Ireland.
It’s amazing how much we are alike. My husband and I also have always been home bodies, we have never really been the type that loves going out, we don’t drink or smoke. I am exactly like Dawn, I have to be busy, I absolutely hate being bored and am always ‘pottering about’. We in many ways regret not doing something similar when we were younger. Loving watching your channel, and seeing the changes. xx
interesting micro goats sheep and chickens. Goats will love to eat your already past their prime fruit trees bc they'll ringbark the trees and clear away your fruit canes, unless there's guards around the trees. I noticed in one vid you took cuttings, and I'm assuming you put rooting powder or honey and planted, and there was a a hint about . The'll take 10 years to fruit. Whereas if you'd bought rooting stock and grafted your cutting on the stock it would be 2 years before it fruited. Goats are we milking or for meat, or breeding? For the normal size its 5 head per half an acre, Not really sure with the micro goats but normal urinate all over themselves and their females, you need to wear a a hazmat suit and taints the milk. Now sheep same 5 head per half an acre great lawn mowers as they only have top teeth. But it also means you gotta learn how to shear their wool off and possibly learn to spin. Or get meat sheep. My fav, chickens Where I am its a square meter per head to live in. I have 3 areas for my hens a coop for just the layers, an emergency room with an incubator cupboard for medication broodying box. for baby to 8 weeks old meat birds call 'fryers'. isolation section for bumble foot pr sourcrop which they get if their crop ain't empty first thing I the morning. The main issue us they should be able to see each other, Even the 3rd section that for fertility. Again we are not allowed to sell fertile eggs in with the just layers , but we can sell them as fertile eggs.
To me, this was the best! Thank you both for sharing your story, I was glued from the word Hello. Thanks to everyone for asking questions, as now I can understand the why's, wherefores, and way you do things. My grandmother used to tell me a lot; there is no right or wrong way to do things, just different! And you both embody that, I love it. Cheers to you both, and keep having fun.
Listening to your animal experiences and your desire to add domestic animals to the corner house, I am reminded of the Monty Python lion-tamer/anteater skit. Be wary. Borrow experience if you can. That acre of ground will get small very quickly
Hi Dawn & Ben! What a fun video! I actually clocked on a few minutes after you posted and was so excited. And then the internet went down, and I had to wander off and do animal chores. You two are such really nice, fun people. I think I personally kept the video an extra 1/2 hour longer (oops🤭) with my many questions, but I am so thankful you answered them. I'm thrilled your stove fund is getting up there! Last winter looked so damp and cold. Ben, the indoor/outdoor video chat from the living room was really cool! Not sure how you did it, but very impressed! You two are amazing for following your bliss and living your dreams. ❤ P.S. Sometimes, fruit trees need another of the same species, blooming at the same time, to cross-pollinate in order to bear fruit.😉
For the next Q&A then, have you considered bees and bee-keeping, for pollination and honey? Clever setup, with the camera outside, and the screen, and sound equipment. Nicely done.
So I'm back! LOL :) I've seen the pinterest board now and that's exactly what I imagined it should look like as well! I can't wait to see the whole recreation! Loved the whole video as usual! See you next time!!
I hope you made yourself a drink and got comfy :-) Although the voice over said about me doing something clever with the Pinterest board, that was Dawn's idea with the ipad and scrolling through it, the cats were an added bonus though. I am sure Dawn will have the place looking great by the time she has finished. A few things to do between now and then, but one day it will look great. Have a lovely week Josefina and thank you so much as always :-)
Thank you Babs and thank you so much for being one of our much valued channel members :-) How has your weather been? Our water tanks are full although it has been sunny on and off.
Christ you two scrub up well 😉 I almost never recognised you when you were clean 🤣🤣🤣 I can relate to pandemic, it changed my life (for the worst) and now I can't deal with crowds or people outside a small family circle,, but such is life What a brilliant video folks, thank you
I don't know about scrub up Scott, we just changed our clothes, no soap was used in the making of this video hahaha. Sorry to hear that Covid changed things for you, we were very fortunate in our families. We didn't need a pandemic, we have always liked to be away from crowds and people unless we know them so moving to where we are now was an easy decision, apart from being further away from our families. Thank you for watching and commenting tonight. Have a nice rest of the weekend :)
Dawn and Ben I really enjoyed the video.Thank you both for sharing your meeting and journey this far.Your both very honest people about everything and deserve to be very proud of all you have achieved. Well done from me.Take care and God Bless you both .xx
Good evening Colettee, how are you? That's good, I am pleased you enjoyed it, we wanted it to be a little different. Up until now, we have never really spoken much about "Us" so it was nice to share the information people are interested in. Thank you so much, have a lovely week and we will see you soon :-)
Exactly Rebecca, it didn't take much arm twisting for us to be drawn to the place. When we viewed the house, there was no estate agent or "current" owner, just myself and Dawn. We spent about 90 minutes here, chatting, looking, thinking, chatting some more. We didn't even get to see the land as it was too overgrown. We have probably never been so certain about something in our life as when we came to view here. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)
Your channel is one of my fav and I so enjoyed your discussion today. You two are such positive ppl and so lucky to have found each other. Excited to see all the next steps in the Reno journey forward. Best wishes
Aww, that is lovely, thank you, that makes us really happy. We were lucky, a bit like the house, things just happened all at the right time for us. We aren't normally lucky, but two massive bits of luck have us here together, today. Have a lovely week.
Hi Dawn and Ben, Thank you so much for all the information you gave on this brilliant Q&A episode. I have followed your journey from the start and enjoy the episode each week. I remember back to spring when you did daily updates on your garden, phew. The stone wall rebuild looks great as do the new doors. I have a question, have you ever met up with Rob & Clare or other homesteader to have a catch up or to share the journeys? All the best to you both 💛
Hi Helen, you are most welcome but thank you for always watching and commenting on our videos. 32 days of daily videos, seven days a week were hard work but if nothing else it showed us that I can make videos every day in a few hours and Dawn can reply to no end of comments. It did take pretty much every waking hour to do, but we did it. As a result, everyone got to see what we were up against with the land and share our pleasure when it was finally "finished" so it was worth it. We have met Becky from Irish Homestead and hope one day we will get to meet Rob and Clare as they are our hero's really. Those two can really work and that was with full time jobs! We are not a patch on them. We will show the first fixed part of the wall Dawn has been working on properly as it would be a shame no to share the last few bits being done. It was going to be the intro for this video but I felt it deserved more than to be just a few minutes before Q&As. Thanks so much for being with us all of this time. Still so much to do, but you know us, slowly but surely we will get there. Thanks for watching and commenting :-)
Awww thanks guys. Was joking with Rob who'd get the longer answer but we're both chuffed you gave us such wonderful answers. We have our dream to take us thru the tough times and did wonder what yours was. Keep it up loved the kitty asleep on the table, we hoped that was the back story for Alan and Steve and totally would love goats!!
Well we don't know why Clare but your comment was put in the naughty box for some reason, so sorry for the late reply. They were both great questions and both deserved thoughtful answers, I am not sure who had the most air time in the end though between you, call it a draw :-) It is the dream that keeps you going isn't it. To look around and know that one day it will all be amazing and worth every cut, bump, bruise, ache, oooh, ahh and grunt! (We seem to be having more ooohs, ahh and grunts lately). The cats on the table were a happy accident. Peaches is just nosey and Alan was busy sleeping to care. Oh yes, it had to be Steve and then Alan for exactly that reason. We have never had human names for any of our cats but always liked them, so these gingers were the first. Goats are just ar**holes which is why we love watching the videos and can't wait to get some in the future. Have a great week both of you :-)
Fab. Love the special effects :) thanks for the earnestness in the answers. Really great answers,love the insights and for those following in your footsteps, really useful I believe. Ben... Of course it's on purpose 🤣🤣🤣 I did think what would be a tough q for us so asked that. Hard to find such answers when your living your dream life, but they were really great. Dawn, absolutely touched by your reference to our first video at the kitchen table, it's hard to sit in your most comfortable and safe place and throw it out to RU-vid, and the world, but it's so worthwhile. Glad to have that lil connection and lovely to be transported back ourselves! 🥰
Cheers Rob. I get bored doing the same things in a video so thought I would try and mix it up a bit. Not perfect but something to work on and took a tonne of editing. Well I think Dawn is going to throw both of your questions right back at you for your journey in the car tomorrow, but for the first time in 12 months, she is actually sat watching something on the TV in the living room so don't think she has got round to it yet. You two sat at the kitchen table in your first video made us realise we would not be alone in our journey we were just starting. You seem to have a more experience in building / framing or at least some insight where we don't but we knew we could do it and your table talk just reinforced it. Have a good day out tomorrow :-)
@@thecornerhouseproject nah it's great to try new things keep it up 👍 don't worry car ride was today nobody wanted to ask us anything so we'll postpone till next year!! Few months needed to think up answers to our tough Q's 🤣🤣
Ah bugger, I thought Dawn said it was Tomorrow :-( I missed a trick there then as I would have made up some real nasty ones hahaha. Well hope you had a good journey anyway. Keep up the great work you two.
It just had to be done Laurie. We collected Peaches and the at the time, the no named Steve first and left Alan behind. Within a week we were back and collecting him and of course when you have a Steve, you must have an Alan hahaha. Thank you for watching and commenting :-)
Hi Ben and Dawn I know what you mean by screw fix. Love watching you're videos. You're both brilliant workers.. Ben you will know. When I say Ta ra for now Cheers
I know what you mean... we had a lorra lorra laughs making the video as well as a lot of head scratching on how we would actually execute my brain wave ideas of a moving photo and a bloody arm wrestle lol. Keep an eye or for the last bits of Dawn finishing the first stage of the repairs to the hole in the wall. We haven't left it out. Ta ra :)
Laughed out loud when I saw my question pop up and the struggle of you pronounce my nickname. It is the name my grandchildren used to call me (oma = gran, and Ivo (pronounce ee-vo) was my cat who died nearly 3 years ago at the age of 17). My first name is Inge, but I dare say you can't pronounce that correctly either. 😂Thank you for answering my question and so many others! Keep up the good work! Have a nice week!
Good evening Inge, we are going to pronounce that "In-Ga" or maybe even "En-Ga" (I cheated and used Google hahaha). Awww that is sad with your cat, it is heart breaking losing pets, it doesn't matter what pet it is, they are family. No, thank you for your Question, sorry I completely messed up your nickname haha. Thank you for watching and commenting. See you soon :-)
On your water situation why not ask the farmer next door to supply your water , the shed next door has a water supply, it would be easy to run a pipe to your house , pretty sure he would do so for a couple of hundred a year if anything, until ye get your own well, just a suggestion. Ask around for a local water deviner, he will tell if you have a water supply on your land .better to know for peace of mind, if there is none, then farmers water is your best option anyway. I built on a 10 acre field, found water beside the house, but he said that was the only place showing in the field.
Hi Tango It is a thought but we wouldn't want to put him in a position where he felt obliged to say yes if there is a reason he shouldn't do it. We are doing well on the rain water harvesting at the moment and have all the filters and UV light in place making sure the water is clean, germ and bacteria free. We can always add chlorine to the tanks if we wanted to go down that route. Dawn is pleased with the fact that in 12 months, she hasn't had to use hair conditioner as there is no additives in the water. Thanks for your input and thoughts. Something we will keep in mind.
Great well put together video and I don’t think anyone fell asleep. 50 is only the start of living and ur out of the rat race now doing it for yourselves.
Thank you Marcus, we wanted it to be a little different, it wouldn't be us otherwise would. 50 is the start for us and being out of the rat race makes the world of difference. We feel like we can achieve anything, but we will do it slowly and bit by bit haha. Thanks as always Marcus for joining us and commenting :-) Hope you have had a productive week.
@@thecornerhouseproject between looking after kids and the day job and rain I git 4 hours work in just this week. But I got 5 meters of resting wall done to about 1 meter high so there’s progress. Running out of sand now so must organise a 16t load for this week plus need drainage stones too. It’s planning where to put it all. I see u use the 1ton bags. If u find a local sand and gravel quarry it would be cheaper for u to get a load or part load delivered. Looking forward to seeing ur progress next week
A day job... ewwwww hahaha. Kids are a job in their own right aren't they. Sounds like you made more progress than us. It really would be cheaper delivered by the half load and I think Dawn is going to need a fair amount. Maybe I will have a look or ask to see what is about. I think that one bag was about €23 delivered (I think) not sure how that compares. Have a good week Marcus.
Me thinks ye are a lovely couple and work so well together. I loved seeing Ben talking to you Dawn through the picture outside so cool. The wall is beautiful too. I’m hooked on all the house channels at home in Ireland too
Aww thank you Annie. We wanted a Q&A video which was a little different, it lost it's way in the second half but there is only so many times I could talk to a picture and sit there on the sofa on my own hahaha. There will be the remaining part of the hole in the wall being finished so don't think you have missed Dawn doing the last bits. She has done a great job, strong enough for another 200 years. There are so many RU-vid channels renovating, all different but all following the same dream I think. RU-vid is great. Thank you so much for a love comment Annie, have a nice evening :-)
When you hear people say they are living the dream, it is usually said ironically. In our case we really are living our dream. I am pleased it shows we are happy in what we film as what you see really is us. Thanks for joining us and commenting again :-)
Hi Sheila Lukas is our son. It is very rare you see him. He was in Canada when we first moved over for 5 months and I think he has maybe been seen three times on video. Georgia is our daughter who stayed in the UK dues to work etc. Thanks for watching and commenting :-)
Hi, Dawn and Ben! I think you you two mesh really well with the things that you're doing and have to do. You just seem to gravitate to your jobs naturally and that's nice. I can't imagine how you're going to put that long piece at the top to create the roof in the outbuilding! :) Makes me dizzy just to think about it. Your answer to "why Ireland" makes complete sense! It's so beautiful and the countryside seems so restful. Cities are tough everywhere, but not every country has that lushness. I'm sure I'm not the only one to say that we're glad you found the Corner House and decided to do youtube!! What would we do without you? Thanks for the chat. I've got to go now, but I'll be back to finish later! XO
Well the door is open when you return and you know where the kettle is by now hahaha. Seriously though, we do gravitate to our most suited jobs even if the rolls are reversed sometimes. The roof beam will go up using the scaffold, we should have plenty to have two towers one at each end. I won't say it will be easy but hopefully we will manage it OK between us. It is easy to see "Why Ireland" isn't it, really easy. We used to get quite excited when we saw the tractor in the field which used to be behind our house at harvest time, now we have tractors passing the front door, being on cow directing duty and having to walk down the country lane with our rubbish bins every other Sunday. It really is a beautiful place. As I said in the video, we think The Corner House found us and we feel very fortunate it did. We are always here for a chat, normally on a Saturday hahahaha. Thank you so much Josefina and thank you for being a channel member :-)
Hi Dawn and Ben, thank you for sharing, I just love how you pull together and watching each project develop, it feels good watching the adventure that has become your life :) You are a proper pair of grafters and deserve to see your dreams come to fruition. It may be goats that win over sheep, because of the size of the land you have and the fact that Dawn has a leaning toward them.
Good evening Ellen, how are you? We have always worked well together, always done DIY together and repaired and did up the old, 30 year old caravan together. Somewhere we have a little sign which reads "You and I are more than friends, we are like a really small gang" and it is true. We are the best of friends and work well together. Fingers crossed, as time goes on, we will have more done and we will be able to spend more time relaxing. Once Dawn has of course done her research lol, Goats will happen, I think even if we have to change the entire place to allow for them, goats will happen. A sheep is just something I think would be fun. Like the cats come for a walk with us, the sheep would too. (In my minds eye anyway) Thank you so much for always watching and commenting Ellen.
Great vid! Thanks for sharing with us. My question would have been Is this your forever home or would you be tempted when its finished to sell high and buy low again? I think I know the answer ☘️
Hi Jane, thanks for watching, commenting and asking. Hopefully we didn't miss this question if you asked it before and it should have been in the video? We have no plans to ever move from here, of course we don't know what the future years hold for us, but the house and land is perfect for us. As for selling high and buying low.... buying low sounds like a lot of work would be involved again and I am not sure how our bodies would take that news hahaha. If you guessed at us staying for good, you were right lol. Thank you so much again.
@@thecornerhouseproject I guessed as much.. I hadn’t left a question before for the vlog so appreciate you answering here Love the channel Enjoy the rest of the w/e ☘️
What a wonderful Q & A, loved hearing your story, you were so fortunate to find such a great property, at exactly the right time for an amazing price. You really do know when something feels right and you've certainly moved to the right place. I'm so fond of you both, you are doing everything right and also I'm thrilled that you're keeping the brown!❤
Good evening Pat, how are you today and how has your week been? Thank you for your nice comments. We were fortunate. Everything just seemed to fall into place at the right time. The cottage we had our hearts set on soon fell by the wayside when we saw it in person. Believe it or not, it would have been too much for us to take on with no experience in building works or a trade. But The Corner House was the second place we looked at and we were so sure after an hour of being here, we even removed some of the ivy which had started to grow up the wall of the house, somehow knowing we would be back. Not sure we are doing everything right.... we are doing everything slowly hahahaha. We want to restore as much as we can, or recreate what we can, so keeping the brown, especially knowing how much you like it, is important haha. Thank you so much Pat for always watching and commenting :-)
Loved the video and getting to know more about you both , bit by bit the house , garden , shed and everything else coming along nicely. Just do what you want and will send you a video of how to amuse your cats 😁 😁
Hi Simon. We do tend to hold our cards quite close to our chest, I think that is because we are not the most outgoing of people. RU-vid is probably the biggest thing we have ever done and shared our lives with. Yep, house, garden, shed, no rush and lets just enjoy the journey of it all, it is all getting there slowly. Yep, any videos to amuse the cats are welcome :-) Thanks Simon.
Really enjoyed learning your journey and what you are going to do with the your Irish farmhouse.We had a similar journey over to Ireland in 1999,we were in our fifties.At that time we thought it was like going back to the 1950's,but has got much busier since then.We would not go back,things we miss are public transport,not being able to jump on a bus,decent fish and chip shop and an English pint of beer,nothing else.Hope you will remain as happy as we are.
Hi Wendy, thank you for a great comment and of course for watching. We think it is like going back 40 years or so. Petrol pumps are still a single pump where the man MUST put the fuel in the car, you can buy coal and logs from everywhere and so many other things. Public transport for us is non existent where we are unless we go into a town or know the bus route. We need to find a good Chinese takeaway but we really don't miss anything except family. We love the way of life this area gives us. Thank you again for watching and commenting :-)
Regarding sheep or goats, be careful and research carefully first. Because I know that sheep can easily get problems with their feet if the ground is too wet, and I'm thinking that maybe goats could be the same. As your land seems to be a bit challenged drainage wise, that might not be the best choice. Maybe ducks would be better (bigger eggs and not so sensitive to the boggy ground ?
Hi Catherine. Oooh we won't be jumping in feet first, have you met Dawn, Research is her second, third and fourth name haha. We would also ask the advice and input from farmers who have sheep / goats too. The land is in need of drainage channels in several places and we wouldn't get animals until we were ready for them. We would have loved to have had animals this year but the time isn't right and the place isn't ready. Chickens we could do, but larger livestock will have to wait for now. Thank you so much for your input and thank you for watching :-)
Watching the Q&A today I was struck by a similarity! I also bought a fixer-upper on 1 acre of land in the Mississippi countryside for the same amount as you did! Lol. What a coincidence! I gutted (literally me) the entire house down to the studs and started over. Only the ceilings were spared 😬 Thankfully I didn’t have stone walls to repair. I can’t wait to see it all done but you are right to pace yourselves.
Wow that is a coincidence isn't it, sounds like you had it all under control. You and Dawn sound alike, don't really need men lol. How long ago did you buy that? And depending on that answer, have you got it all finished and how you wanted it to be? 6 months every day was hard work but had to be done. This year, apart from soooo much digging, has been more relaxed, certainly now. Would you believe, apart from recording the video stuff yesterday, we are actually having the weekend off. Thank you so much for watching and commenting sharing your experience :-)
@@thecornerhouseproject As long as I can remember, I’ve taken on projects myself. I watched my mother wait for 20 years for my father to put up a metal backsplash behind the cook stove and I declared right then as a teenager that I would never ask a man to do something that I could do myself. Lived that truth since then. I’ve tackled things no other female friends of mine would ever attempt. Once I moved several railroad ties that were used to border flower beds to the curb for pickup. I’ve written down the “how I did it” and sealed it in an envelope to be opened after my death lol. Like Dawn, I also have an issue with my right shoulder not being 100% and that slows me down. I will tackle most anything but plumbing. Very interested in watching your workarounds.
Me and Paddy, have bought a derelict cottage in eslin bridge are we near you? We are loving seeing your journey. We need to start ours. You are our inspiration ❤
Hi Debbie awww thank you so much and thanks for watching. That sounds really exciting, hopefully you will be as happy as we are. Eslin Bridge isn't too far away from us so expect plenty of rain and four seasons in one day moments lol. Let us know via email when you move over, if you haven't already or don't already live here lol, I am sure we can sort out meeting up. Good luck with everything and speak soon.
There has been plenty of rain hasn't there Thomas. Our water tanks are full so we never complain but a week of just sun would be nice. Thank you for the lovely comment and for watching. Have a nice weekend.
Plum trees only fruit two out of three years, so be aware, I’d hate you to remove a tree if you got no fruit! We are like you two, being home birds. We are looking at France though. Have you seen anything bad re immigration towards you recently, as the press seem to think it’s an issue in Ireland? Or is this aimed at non Brits more?
Good evening The Roberts :-) We didn't know that about plum trees so thank you very much. We wouldn't be removing them though even if they had no fruit as they look nice. We would only add to them. France will be dryer than here I bet, probably warmer too. The night times are still dropping to as low as 8 degrees some nights. Good luck with it all and hope you find your dream home as we have. I think it it Non Brits as we haven't experienced any negativity from anyone we have met. Thanks for watching and commenting and keep us updated with your future.
