Anyone who has walked the cliff path around Howth Head will probably be familiar with Heather Cottage. Partially hidden in the landscape, with its local stone walls and zinc roof visible from the upper trail, the house has become one of the peninsula’s most recognisable homes.
Sitting at the most easterly residential site on the island, it appears less like a house imposed on the cliff and more like part of it.
The five-bedroom detached property was designed by architect, the late Andrzej Wejchert of AD Wejchert and Partners, and built in 2005 by the then owner, Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings.
Polish-born Wejchert worked alongside his wife, Danuta Kornaus-Wejchert, on some of Ireland’s best-known buildings, including the UCD campus, the Helix Performing Arts Centre at DCU and the Glasnevin Cemetery Trust Museum. Wejchert was one of the most prolific architects in Ireland with his work extending across the country, from shopping centres to one-off homes.
Planning for a house on the edge of Howth Head was never going to be straightforward, but Wejchert’s design, with its Howth stone cladding, settles naturally into the cliffside. The house and surrounding land fall within the Howth special amenity area order, which protects 547 hectares, including Ireland’s Eye, the heathland, woods, cliffs, shingle beaches and wooded residential areas across the southeastern side of the peninsula.
