A quick hello
Sent from my bed in North Wales!
I’m on holiday! In Abersoch. My goodness, isn’t North Wales lovely? Who knew? More and more I am thinking I just want to explore the UK and ditch getting on a plane ever again. Probably a good decision in the current climate.
Anyway, I digress. As I’m away, it’s a bit of a short edition this week as I need to just drink coffee and lie down a lot. So here’s something I prepared earlier, a Home Comforts interview with Rosanna Irwin, founder of Irish nature retreat Samsú Cabins and resident of a beautiful houseboat, Pomeroy.
Where do you live and how long have you lived there for?
We live on a houseboat in Hayes, West London. This is actually our second boat – we’ve been living on the water since 2022, after briefly attempting to be sensible and buy a house and realising the London housing market had other plans for us. We are actually about to move home to Ireland and so are selling our boat!
How did you find your home?
Our first boat was a very random Facebook Marketplace find, which I still think is quite funny. There’s a proper boating website called Apollo Duck (the Rightmove of boats) that everyone swears by, but I spend an unhealthy amount of time on Marketplace looking for furniture, so that’s where we found it. I took the train from London to Manchester to view it and the rest was history!
This current boat is a different story – we built it from scratch, from the steel shell all the way through to the carpentry and plumbing. It was such a fun project!
Who is at home with you?
I live with my partner, now husband, Killian. Back in Ireland we have a working cocker spaniel – Carlos.
Your favourite thing about the house and your biggest niggle about it!
My favourite thing is that it doesn’t feel like a boat at all. From the beginning, we were quite obsessed with making it feel like a real house that just happens to float. The proportions, the light, the materials – it was all considered through that lens. We also tried to source as much second hand as possible – the bathroom butler sink, vanity, and floorboards all came from ebay!
The biggest niggle is I guess having to be more organised when on a boat than on a house – post, toilets, water etc all just need a little more planning than a regular home.
Where did you grow up? Did anything about your childhood home inspire your current home?
I grew up in Ireland, and I’ve been drawn to design and interiors from a young age. I think what carried through is an awareness of how much your environment affects how you feel.
Now, whether it’s the boat or the cabins I design through my business Samsú - I’m quite intentional about creating spaces that feel calm, considered, and a little bit different from the norm.
How do you feel about household chores… are you a domestic goddess or a leave-it-to-the-morning kind of person?
I’d love to say domestic goddess, but that would be a lie. I like things to look tidy, but my natural state is a bit chaotic. I’ve tried to negotiate a clothes horse situation for “organisation,” but my husband has very fairly pointed out it would just become a semi-permanent wardrobe.
What’s your current TV obsession?
Slightly embarrassingly, Married at First Sight Australia – it’s elite television. On the other end of the spectrum, I recently watched Louis Theroux’s The Manosphere, which was fascinating in a completely different way.
Best home comfort meal?
Anything that feels like minimal effort but maximum reward. I recently made a Thai red curry sea bass one-pot recipe that has become a firm favourite. (I love anything Em the nutritionist!)
Book currently on your bedside table?
Poor by Kathryn O’Sullivan – an incredible memoir about education poverty in Ireland. Best book I’ve read in years. I also have about 10 desgin / cabin /architecture books and magazines sitting waiting to be poured over.
Background noise in your house?
If I’m working, it’s usually Sex and the City playing in the background, which I’ve seen enough times to not need to fully pay attention. Otherwise, I love The Daily by The New York Times.
My garden is….
A very ambitious herb garden but I am doing a food growing course this year so things are moving in the right direction !
Your favourite home from home?
Copenhagen has always been a huge inspiration point for me. It was actually on a small Danish island called Samsø that I had my first accidental digital detox, which ended up shaping the business I run today. There’s something about how they approach design, space, and daily life – it all feels intentional, but effortless. It’s a place I come back to, mentally and creatively, again and again.
Book a cabin at Samsú here.
OK folks, that’s all for this week, I’m off to this beach. Normal service will resume on Tuesday. Have a great Easter break!
What a stunning houseboat. Thanks for the peek, Rosanna.
Enjoy your Welsh break, Dominique. (Yes, a place full of beauty.)