RTE architect Hugh Wallace on doing his own home renovation – Sunday World

Hugh Wallace couldnt be accused of not empathising with the homeowners who have their lives turned upside down and inside out on any of his popular TV shows.

he television architect and husband Martin have just begun renovating their forever home in the heart of Dublin city.

And the 65 year-old already feels like hes starring in his very own episode of The Great House Revival, although fans sadly wont get to see a big reveal of the low-key couples revamped digs down the line.

Stress, he relates down the phone while enjoying a well-earned sun holiday. And the anxiety over the whole project.

At the moment, we live in a small cottage beside the house we bought and the work on it has just started. Theres absolutely nothing I have four walls.

Im not doing a show on it because Martin is very private. But Ill have all the neighbours in, no doubt about that.

I live in this great old Dublin neighbourhood off Clanbrassil Street. Theres a lady on the street who organises the sweeping of the street, so if you dont sweep the section of the street in front of your house she knocks on your door. I just love that.

People scrawled graffiti on a big wall and they all got organised and got it all cleaned again. The community sort of look after one another. Weve left the keys in the door and gone off to work and come back and the neighbour would come in and say, I think you left these in the door.

Hot off the back of Home of the Year, clinched by a 150-year-old Wicklow farmhouse owned by Kate and Shane Byrne, the presenter can now be seen on the third season of the popular RT restoration show.

Like viewers, Hugh says his jaw was on the floor at some of the awesome restorations featured on the Sunday night staple, filmed in the most challenging circumstances yet over the past three years.

The buildings this year are extraordinary. They go from a general store up in Monaghan to a 14th century tower house in Cork. Its amazing to watch these homeowners take on abandoned buildings, and youre going, You must be mad! jokes the director of Douglas Wallace Architects.

Its not like theyre architects or engineers; theyre social media personalities, theyre nurses, doctors, and they go through this extraordinary journey of saving our heritage, renovating houses that were about to fall into the ground and disappear. And, my God, when you see what they do particularly in this series its mind-blowing, and theyre all quite young.

The dapper host first came to prominence as a judge on RTs nationwide home contest alongside architect Declan ODonnell and homewares designer Helen James, and latterly, architect Amanda Bone and interior designer, Sara Cosgrave.

He also scored another success in the crowded property show genre with My Bungalow Bliss on the channel last year.

But hard-working Hugh, who at one stage in recent weeks had two shows running simultaneously on RT, insists he still doesnt see himself as a celebrity and is especially allergic to the word used to describe television architects.

Starchitect?! the Dubliner repeats aghast. Ah Jesus, I dont think Ive got that far. That was sort of the 2000s there was definitely a few worldwide starchitects around the place, but theyve fallen by the wayside.

People come up and say hello, and theyd say, Hello, Hugh and then Im going, Christ, I must know you and, of course, I dont. Then people want selfies and stuff like that, and thats fine. People are genuinely very nice.

Irish Twitter, needless to say, can be a different story altogether, with the scoring on Home of the Year, in particular, often inviting the wrath of armchair judges on social media, though Hugh concedes his female colleagues typically get a tougher time.

Indeed they do, he says. Particularly Amanda but she takes it in good spirit. I think its just hilarious some of the tweets.

I got stopped during Covid by a guard and he gave out to me because he said I gave a house the wrong score. You do have to [have thick skin], but its just such a fun show.

Suffice to say he has no designs on toppling Dermot Bannon as Irelands reigning starchitect. Not at all, adds Hugh. We are good friends and Diarmuid Gavin. The three of us have great fun.

So could a Gordon, Gino & Freds Road Trip-style show starring the countrys top three property porn hunks ever happen?

Absolutely, he laughs. Thats it.

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RTE architect Hugh Wallace on doing his own home renovation - Sunday World