My favourite room: ‘Sarah and I are a great team. I made the canvas and she paints it’

A thatched ruin miles from anywhere is few people’s idea of a dream home, but now, joyfully restored by Paul Johnson and Sarah Harty, this hidden Clare gem is an enviable idyll Paul Johnson and Sarah Harty with daughter Hazel and pet goat, Maura, outside their Co Clare home. Photo: Tony Gavin Thatched cottages were a big feature of Ireland once, and while there are considerably fewer now, they are still scattered around the countryside. What is a more unusual sight is a thatched cottage side by side with a sauna, hot tub, plunge pool and a pizza oven, but then, the creators of this fascinating home in Flagmount, Co Clare are themselves unusual.

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