The image was locked in Colin Gray's memory. The tumbled stone facade. The bright green grass. The patinaed stone-wall surround. The centuries-old stone church in central Ireland had been a fixture in his childhood. “My grandparents lived by that church, so we’d drive by it all the time when I was a child,” says Gray, who grew up in Ireland. “There was always something about the sanctity and quietness of that church that stuck with me.”
When Gray first saw the four-acre parcel of land outside Wilmington, “the memories came flooding back,” he says. Long stretches of green grass surrounded a 1970s ranch with a tennis court in the backyard. The sight had Gray’s mind spinning. “At that time in my life I was really missing my home of Ireland—the green and the grass and the oldness of it that’s lacking in this country in terms of history,” he explains. “I wanted to bring a slice of Ireland to North Carolina, to build something that looked like it had been here forever. I wanted that feeling of tranquility and ancientness.”
While Gray initially wanted to renovate, he ultimately opted to raze the house. His vision of a modest cottage reminiscent of the church in Ireland was only possible by starting from scratch. “There are a lot of churches and old monasteries in Europe that are being repurposed, trying to preserve history in a different way,” he explains. “I’ve always embraced that idea, but we needed to start fresh.” An avid lover of interior design and architecture, the businessman sketched out his vision and enlisted Sabin’s Drafting Company and Jason Gannon of Gannon Building Group to bring it to life. “Jason loved the idea of doing something bespoke as opposed to cookie cutter,” says Gray.
The unassuming Irish cottage took its cues both outside and in from Gray’s vision of the old Irish building in his grandparents’ town. A pea-gravel drive lined with a wooden split-rail fence and stone pillars winds through the property to the home, where breezy natural grasses border a piercing green lawn leading to the modest entrance, seemingly emerging from its natural landscape. Gray was meticulous in choosing the stone for the facade, opting to source from both Pennsylvania and Tennessee to achieve an eventual weathered patina. Copper gutters and downspouts coupled with a cedar shake roof—the latter a nod to the architectural detail found throughout Ireland—add the final touch.
Inside, striking cathedral ceilings pair with tall lancet windows and wide-plank wood floors reclaimed from an old tobacco factory. In the family room, the fireplace, designed by François & Co., is a replica of one in a French château. The long, open great room is speckled with sunlight that dances off the dreamy white tongue-and- groove ceiling, resulting in a truly magical atmosphere.
An avid nature enthusiast, Gray worked with designer Brandy Crawford of Bridgett Mazer Interiors to craft an aesthetic that would complement both nature and the architecture. “A lot of the design choices in this home were centered around the horse photos by Drew Doggett,” explains Gray. The photographs hang like modern accents to what feels like a traditional architectural shell layered with vintage finishes like an antique mirrored backsplash in the kitchen.
To ensure the focus is on the architectural details, the interiors were kept neutral and clean, with every room boasting a chandelier. “All churches have chandeliers, so I wanted one in every room of the home,” says Gray, while each of the three-bedroom suites opens to a quiet courtyard pool and patio, as many do in Europe.
The home was a passion project for Gray, who longed to bring a piece of his Irish heritage and history to the coast of North Carolina. As he sits listening to music play throughout the home, he’s reminded that while it’s not quite Ireland, he’s managed to get this property pretty close to it. “Everything flows and works brilliantly here,” says Gray. “I love it.”
