"I blame it all on Senator David Norris, " says Dubliner, David Murray. "Norris first introduced me to the bohemian beauty of North Great George's Street in the early 1980s when I was working on his campaign in my Trinity days. Back then, this part of Dublin 1 was more heroin without the chic, but the street had cast a spell on me."
In 1989, Murray and three friends purchased number 12 North Great George’s Street, intending to developing the five-story period pile into apartments, “an unheard of type of project back then,” says Murray, who recalls carrying every single plank, brick, and slate up the endless sets of staircases himself.
To fund the project, Murray began working in restaurants, including Fitzers and Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, and organising catering at events from EU summits to weddings.
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During the noughties, Murray moved to Spain and renovated an old merchant's house in Jerez, turning it into a boutique hotel, La Fonda Barranco. Back in Dublin, Murray is now running Balfes brasserie, part of the Westbury Hotel. He lives on the top floor of the house on North Great George's Street.
Describe your interiors style?
My priorities are making spaces homely and comfortable. I see so many aspirational interiors that look stunning in photos but drive their owners insane trying to keep them perfect, especially with kids tearing around the place. You don’t need to live up to your blue bone china.
I try to choose timeless but comfortable essentials such as couches, dining chairs, and beds and then change up throws or cushions to keep thing current. Then I add in lots of curios and pieces of art, and I’ve no qualms throwing a bit of Ikea in the mix too.
Where do you source your interior pieces?
I travel a lot with work, so I mostly pick up everything abroad. In Spain, there’s a brilliant market at the Feria park in Fuengirola, with all sorts of 1970s retro treasures, from wall lights to art, that you can get for a song.
If you are visiting Morocco, don't bypass Tangier or Fez; there are warehouses full of antiques, and stunning ceramics everywhere. And don't get me started on the tiles! My favourite pit stop is a store called Haj Mohamed, opposite the famous El Minzah Hotel in Tangier; it's the nearest thing to a real Aladdin's Cave you'll ever encounter.
Lastly, Cochin in Kerala, India, has been the crossroads of the spice route for centuries and you can buy anything there, from gigantic bronze cookware for a few rupees, to an entire flat pack teak house.
Do you collect art?
I studied History of Art in Trinity, so I’m consumed by art and crafts, so much so I call it my illness. The painter, Mary Fitzgerald, is a firm favourite. I have her landscape of the Red Sea parting over my couch, and a large broken up canvas of hers climbing the big stairwell outside.
Aidan Bradley also feeds my illness. He paints what I love the most – which is Dublin architecture, in a beautiful abstract way. I love 18th-century Georgian furniture. I try to avoid auction houses at all cost, as I can’t leave without buying something. I most recently bought an old Irish linen cupboard which I’ve repurposed as a mini- wardrobe. I prefer its height to a big towering closet taking over the bedroom. The internal shelves are sitting on the floor in the spare room; someday I’ll get around to doing something arty with them.
What is your favourite room?
My home life revolves around entertaining and having friends and family over, so I knocked through three main walls to create a big open living, dining and cooking space, where all the action happens.
I’ve sectioned off the kitchen with a half-curved wooden wall so that I can cook and chat, but at the same time hide dirty dishes if needs be. It’s a great party space and the sun beams through here, especially in the evening. When I host Christmas lunches, my guests are often wearing sunglasses at the table as the light is so intense.
You’ve plants everywhere, are you very green fingered?
Not at all. All the plants I have here are succulents or cacti. You just pot them up in a nice display, I’ve some in old birdcages and quirky cookware, and then just let them at it. They need hardly any maintenance and are indestructible. I’ve gone away for weeks, sometimes months, and no one has watered them, and I come back, and they’re still thriving.
Visitors always stop to inspect the displays I have on the landing windowsills and comment on how cool they look. Or maybe they’re just looking for an excuse to catch their breath from all the stairs.
What items would you save in a fire?
I’ve two small Evie Hone paintings right by the front door, so I’d grab them on my way out, and my Moroccan pottery collection too. I’ve all manner of bowls displayed on the walls and scattered around the place, which I’m not too precious to use for serving. If you look at the intricate designs and craftsmanship that goes into some of the pieces, they’re like miniature works of art.
If you had €100,000 to spend on the house tomorrow, what would you do?
I’d sink it all into the roof. I installed a basic garden up on the flatter part years ago, but it’s gone to ruin now, so I’d love to redo the entire thing, with a great terrace for entertaining and lots of planting.
There’s 360-degree unobstructed views up there of the Dublin mountains, Dublin Port, the city and all its landmarks from the Spire to Guinness Brewery, and the unobstructed light is just magic. Dublin’s rooftops are the most underutilized and beautiful resource that we have, but give it a decade, and I’m sure we’ll all be partying among the chimney pots.
