logo
Finalists for Scotland's Home of the Year 2025 revealed

Finalists for Scotland's Home of the Year 2025 revealed

On June 2 on BBC Scotland, the homes will be judged in the series finale, filmed at Glasgow's House for an Art Lover, which sees the six finalists come face-to-face, meeting the judges for the first time as well as getting a chance to cast their eyes over each other's homes.
Interior Designer Anna Campbell-Jones said: "As always, we have a set of finalists that are each uniquely different from each other, from restored modernist dreams to handcrafted miniature perfection there's inspiration for everyone.
Read More:
"When we film the final we are never sure who the winner will be - it could genuinely be any of these amazing homes. Through debate, much discussion and not a little heartbreak, we gradually whittle them down to one that we all agree has that magical edge - the home that best exemplifies what home means.'
Isle of Mull-based Interior Designer Banjo Beale said: 'Each home's bursting with personality - bold, beautiful, and a real labour of love. The finale of SHOTY is the big emotional payoff - surprises, stories, and a stunning winner that'll take your breath away.'
Architect Danny Campbell said: 'This year's finalists are an eclectic celebration of design adventures — bold, heartfelt, and unapologetically individual. Each home tells a story of its owner's passions, priorities and aesthetic DNA, from slick architectural statements to soulful reimagining of traditional spaces. The finale is always a head-spin - equal parts tension and celebration. Viewers can expect impassioned debates, inspiring interior insights and that brilliant moment where we finally agree on a winner!'
See the the nominees below.
Sandstone Bungalow, Giffnock
The Sandstone Bungalow in Giffnock (Image: IWC Media) Home to Pamela and Gordon, their son Caleb and Rosa the Irish Setter, the 'Sandstone Bungalow' blends together old with new, whilst retaining the beautiful original 1930s details. The couple design choices bring the 'Sandstone Bungalow' up-to-date with a bright and modern kitchen, dining and living spaces.
Hilltop House, Aberdeenshire
Hilltop House, Aberdeenshire (Image: Kirsty Anderson) Situated on the outskirts of Pitmedden in rural Aberdeenshire, 'Hilltop House' is home to Chris, Jessica, their son Chase and dogs Enzo and Dino. The couple designed their bright, contemporary house around the original footprint of the farm steading, fusing mid-century and Californian cool style to create their dream home.
Wee City Nook, Edinburgh
Wee City Nook, Edinburgh (Image: IWC Media) A first-floor traditional tenement in Edinburgh's Stockbridge area, 'Wee City Nook' is home to Devin and Max. The couple combined their creative skills to design and rebuild each room in this small-but-perfectly-formed home, creating clever storage solutions, maximising every nook and cranny. Together, they have created a bold, bright and colourful abode which truly packs a design punch.
The Tree House, Broughty Ferry
The Tree House, Broughty Ferry (Image: IWC Media) A modernist 1960s property in Broughty Ferry, 'The Tree House' is home to Jackie, Paul and their cats Mirren and Kaja. The couple fell in love with this neglected house which had laid empty for five years, lovingly breathing new life into it whilst preserving the original architect's vision. Amongst their changes, they reworked the upstairs space to create their bedroom of dreams overlooking the treetops.
An Cala Cottage, Isle of Skye
An Cala Cottage, Isle of Skye (Image: IWC Media) A cosy cottage, 'An Cala Cottage' is home to Caroline, Lee and their dog, Nuala. This traditional cottage was brought back to life on a budget, with the couple incorporating charming charity shop finds with a creative use of colour throughout. They took inspiration for their interior design from the coastal and mountain views which surround, creating a cosy and relaxing home.
Craigmount, Near Dalbeattie
Craigmount, Near Dalbeattie (Image: IWC Media)
A Victorian semi-detached house near Dalbeattie, home to Ozzy, Laura, daughter Grace and Ethel the pug. The property's coastal views won the family over and they made it their own by renovating and adding a tasteful extension to the original granite building. Boasting a bold and colourful interior, the family entered Craigmount as Grace's late gran loved SHOTY.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Crook who wanted to sell Scottish tea to China is like Ealing comedy
Crook who wanted to sell Scottish tea to China is like Ealing comedy

The Herald Scotland

time9 hours ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Crook who wanted to sell Scottish tea to China is like Ealing comedy

Here's how the synopsis runs. Act 1. Cheeky, confident, former professional rugby player, army officer and acclaimed polymer scientist Tam O' Braan sets up home in a cosy Perthshire village where he establishes a tea-growing estate, The Wee Tea Plantation, on which his home-grown plants are encouraged to rise in defiance of the Scottish climate by a special biodegradable polymer and controlled UV light. This pioneer of our very own tea empire, who once worked for Barack Obama's US government on a major maize project, then produces a very special Scottish tea, a fragrance which hints at Bannockburn, Oor Wullie and indeed the spirit of Muriel Spark. O'Braan then proceeds to sell his home-grown plants onto many other hopeful growers, whom he convinces that the world will embrace their Scottish tea in the way it has whisky, Billy Connolly, and anything with a Tunnock's label attached. But O'Braan doesn't simply sell plants. He takes examples of his heather and thistle infused blends – with names such as Scottish Antlers Tea and ­Highland Green, and sells the leaf tea to a huge range of upmarket clients such as the Balmoral Hotel and The Dorchester in London, while describing his tasty cuppa as 'the Queen's favourite'. And he makes an absolute packet. The tea man doesn't stop there. The hob kettle that is his publicity machine almost boils over; BBC Scotland offer coverage; John Swinney views his product. More and more hopeful growers buy up his plants. The story has all the hallmarks of Passport to Pimlico independence and defiance. It's as cleverly organised as whisky capture in Whisky Galore. O' Braan's enterprise suggests the precision and wonder of the string quartet who took over Mrs Wilberforce's home in The Ladykillers. He even announces plans to sell his tea to China. Act 2. O'Braan becomes a celebrity, and sales rocketed. Between 2015 and 2018 he supplied 22,000 plants to growers in Scotland at £12.50 each. His loose tea was gulped down by the rich and famous. Tam O'Braan was brewing up to becoming Scotland's first tea millionaire since Thomas Lipton. This was the stuff of Ealing movies indeed, with themes such as community, dreams and ordinary people having the option to create extraordinary lives. However, Ealing stories never, ever turn out how as expected, the initial cosiness often turning dark as a winter's night on Lewis. The new community of tea growers discovered that Scotland isn't the easiest place to keep his plants alive; after battling for seven years, one Perthshire family managed to harvest less than 4oz of finished tea. This was now a Kind Hearts and Coronets tale. Dreams were being murdered one by one. Suspicions arose. A wily Food Standards detective – a Mrs Wilberforce figure (but without the Victorian frock coat and the flat hat with flowers attached) – began to investigate the tale. A tea expert was brought in, who confirmed that tea plants deprived of UV light would in fact die like orchids in a desert. The Ealing Comedy classic The Ladykillers (Image: free) And when the Scottish Mrs Wilberforce attempted to ascertain the provenance of the original plants – and indeed O'Braan himself – he claimed certificates were lost in a flood of near biblical proportions which washed away part of his cottage. Eventually, the 55-year-old did admit the original plants (bought for £3 each) may have originated from Italy. But they became Scottish he argued, as the roots had been sunk into Scottish soil. It was argument not even the most desperate failed asylum seeker has ever made. With their plants wilting like an end-of-season football team in the final seconds of injury time, angry purchasers demanded the Wee Tea plants be tested. Incredibly, O'Braan sold a story to the local press saying thousands of plants had been stolen. (A series of tea leaves with a fleet of tractors perhaps?) And his digital records were destroyed when his IT advisor mistakenly switched off his account. When Mrs Wilberforce investigated further, he discovered that the special polymer conversion kit was little more than a black bin liner. Going into overdrive, the agency detective discovered that O'Braan was a 'stage name'. was in fact Thomas Robinson who sometimes called himself Tom O'Brien or Thomas James. And he wasn't Irish at all but was born in Greenwich, England. Robinson had in fact imported the tea plants from Italy, before showing them on to the likes of buyers for Fortnum and Mason of London. Read more Meanwhile he sold more than a tonne of his loose tea, bought from Malawi and China for 100 times more than cost. And didn't Ealing comedies always satirise greed? But in a way, the Wee Tea company tale reminds us we need stories such as this to spring from the ground. They are a fantastic warning that we can all so easily be conned. It's a story that confirms we shouldn't be sold on Scottishness alone. On hope. Yet, while we felt an element of sympathy for most of the Ealing villains, (even murderer Denis Price in Kind Hearts and Coronets) what of Robinson, the charismatic fantasist, the pathological liar and conman who received a lengthy custodial sentence? Not at all. He hurt the Scottish tea industry and propagated nothing more than wrecked dreams. 'I wanted to leave something that would stand in the history of tea,' he said in the dock. And he has. The history of tea in Scotland now has an Ealing of a story. And I fancy Alan Cumming for the lead role.

What does Kirstie Allsopp think of Scotland's offers-over system?
What does Kirstie Allsopp think of Scotland's offers-over system?

The Herald Scotland

timea day ago

  • The Herald Scotland

What does Kirstie Allsopp think of Scotland's offers-over system?

**** COME on, we've all been tempted. It's that moment at the end of Location when Kirstie asks if you would like help finding your next home. Like it? I'd bite your hand off, mate. Imagine: Kirstie and Phil, Allsopp and Spencer, swooping in like the fourth emergency service, putting in the hard yards and sourcing that dream home no one else has found. All you have to do is choose one, then rock up to the pub for the big phone call. Then again, what do southerners Kirstie and Phil know of the Scottish property market's mysterious ways? Rather a lot, as it goes. IWC Media, which makes the show (and Scotland's Home of the Year), has had offices in Glasgow for donkey's years. Plus Kirstie has a well-known pash for Victorian stone, some of which turned up in their search of Stirling and East Dunbartonshire. 'By UK standards, house prices are reasonable,' said Phil, quoting an average of £260,075 for places on the outskirts of Glasgow - 7% less than the UK average of £281,000. Phil was searching on behalf of Lorraine and Emma, a mother and her law student daughter, looking to downsize. Kirstie's duo were going the other way, hoping to swap their small flat for a family home. All life is there in Location, and it is always surprising - and central to the show's success - how much a home search reveals. Read more Lorraine acknowledged she might need a shove to get herself over the line between looking and buying. She hadn't found downsizing easy, then. The sales and marketing director also wanted Phil to find her "a mansion for the price of a tin shack." Don't we all? Kirstie's couple, business banking manager James and nurse Gwyneth, had been househunting for a year and made just two offers, both of which were second-to-last in the queue. 'That's where we need your help,' said Gwyneth, 'knowing how much to offer over.' Kirstie sympathised. 'It's a nightmare.' Phil's first pick was a three-bed terrace in the 'charming village' of Cambusbarron, offers over £234,000 with a home report valuation of £250,000. Nice but too small. Kirstie's Kirkintilloch choice was in an extended bungalow in turn-key condition. James liked it, Gwyneth wasn't feeling the love. James and Gwyneth check out an extended bungalow in Kirkintilloch (Image: IWC Media/C4) On they went: a period maisonette flat Kirstie thought 'beautiful' but was too much of a project for Lorraine and Emma; James and Gwyneth felt the same about a semi-detached in Lenzie. Kirkintilloch, Torbrex, Milton of Campsie - the hour and the properties flew by. Kirstie must have been feeling the pressure, and the effects of the Scottish sun, because she had taken her scarf off. Phil was worried. 'Are you okay?' he asked, only half-joking. Closing dates arrived. Not everyone got what they wanted at first, but things worked out in the end. Would the househunters have found the properties anyway? Perhaps, but the crash-course in househunting from Kirstie and Phil, 25 years-plus in the business, helped things along enormously. The pair had arrived in Stirling arm in arm like the old non-couple they are, and they had offered the same support to their househunters. The credits rolled. 'If you'd like help …' began Kirstie. Oh, I was tempted.

Scotland's Home of the Year: Our writers pick their 6 favourites from over the years, from Banchory to Skye
Scotland's Home of the Year: Our writers pick their 6 favourites from over the years, from Banchory to Skye

Press and Journal

timea day ago

  • Press and Journal

Scotland's Home of the Year: Our writers pick their 6 favourites from over the years, from Banchory to Skye

We've been glued to the screens on Monday nights for the past 7 weeks. Hilltop House in Aberdeenshire came out on top in the official Scotland's Home Of The Year (Shoty) final this year. But what are some of the best homes to have featured on the show of the years? Two of our writers, and top Shoty superfans, Kirstie Waterston and Sarah Bruce have gone through to pick their top three properties from the programme's history. Let's start off with Kirstie's top picks… Kirstie is a lover of all things vintage, a rabid Shoty afficionado, and runs the home renovation account on Instagram @ For me, successful entries on Scotland's Home of the Year are the memorable ones – not necessarily the series winners. Shoty enables us to pass judgement from the comfort of our own (probably less polished) living rooms. There's something endlessly fascinating about crossing the threshold of other people's homes, and you really appreciate the vulnerability of any homeowner who invites the nation inside. As someone slowly renovating a Victorian cottage, I'm always drawn to historic properties. While I can't resist an elegant Georgian mansion or Victorian villa, I find the cosy cottages and rural boltholes endearing and relatable. Naturally I root for the properties that represent the north and north-east, but there are some that always stick in my mind…. It goes without saying charming Quiney Cottage appealed to me – and clearly the judges too as it scored full marks on series six. Quiney Cottage is so typical of rural Aberdeenshire housing stock, but with the wee gate and path leading to a sage green door, it could be straight out of a Beatrix Potter illustration. Inside, the cottage is unapologetically cosy; a symphony of colour, pattern and curios are carefully curated by Rachel Dougherty to create a welcoming home. Traditional panelling makes an understated backdrop to showcase bold prints, wallpapers and thrifted finds, but elsewhere woodwork is painted in unexpected arsenic green and sky blue. Quiney Cottage is simply a treasure chest for interior magpies. Your eyes dance from delightful details like handcrafted textiles to mismatched charity shop frames, chipped furniture to vintage finds, yet it's not cluttered. It speaks volumes of Rachel's fun eye for design that the cottage exudes the warmth and soul of a home lived in for decades – not one that was renovated, herself, little over three years ago. Hot on the heels of Quiney Cottage in series six was Casa Barra, a self-build bursting with personality. If you could build a house anywhere in Aberdeenshire, you would want unspoilt views of Bennachie – and that's exactly what Craig and Maria Michie did. The barn-style house was built on land farmed by generations of Craig's family, but Casa Barra throws out the rulebook of what a farmhouse should look like. Here, the beauty and rural idyll of Aberdeenshire's landscape courts the colour and exoticism of Latin America. Instead of being dictated by tradition, self-building meant the Michies shaped a home around their family and lifestyle. The house is steeped in natural light and picture windows make the most of the views to the west. Stepping inside the bright yellow door, Maria's Columbian heritage and flair for interiors is woven throughout the home. Designed on open plan, the downstairs is a social space elegantly zoned with furniture, artwork and colour to create cosy corners. New builds can feel stark, but Casa Barra is a lesson in styling with playful prints and tactile textiles. Upstairs, there's a snug for hunkering down on winter nights by the fire. But in summer it opens onto a balcony overlooking Bennachie, realising Maria's dream to bring a piece of South American culture to her Aberdeenshire home. Harking back to series two, a once-derelict cottage in Stromness stole the show with its nautical nooks and old-world nicknacks. Ships' lamps at either side of the front door guide visitors to the tiny cottage, which is a welcoming refuge from the elements. Coming from a fourth-generation fishing family, trawlerman Liam Temple resurrected the old property, but ensured his heritage was embedded in the cottage by incorporating materials like driftwood. Along with partner Caro Stockan, he took the property back to stone, and the pair were able to start again, tailoring the layout to maximise the downstairs area. Mirroring life at sea where space on a boat is at a premium, Liam utilised any opportunity to create storage at the Wheelhouse where a bunk bed even doubles up as a wardrobe. But beyond the clever joinery, it's the loving little touches that made the Wheelhouse a home. Proud Orcadians, the pair dressed their home with local artwork and vintage finds to create a homely feel. Twinkling fairylights and the glow of old lanterns transport you back to a bygone era, with judge Anna Campbell-Jones describing it as a 'wonderland'. Although not the 2020 winner, the small but mighty cottage was a very worthy finalist. Sarah is our Schools and Families writer, and is based in Inverness. I love watching Scotland's Home of the Year – it's a killer combination of interior design inspiration, Banjo's often-hilarious comments and the important opportunity to judge other people's homes. I would never consider opening my front door to Banjo and his pals, but thankfully there are people out there who are less camera-shy. Over the years, I have lived in Aberdeen flats, Edinburgh tenements and a new build in leafy Milngavie. These days, I'm a Victorian family home with the obligatory high ceilings and cracks in the walls that you learn to ignore, so similar properties tend to speak to my soul. But sometimes, the opposite is true, and a brand spanking new house can be a novelty that I find myself rooting for. As a chippy Highlander, it needs to be north for the win in my mind. So here are my favourites from 'P&J land' in the current and past series of Shoty… Sometimes, the Shoty winner just gives you a warm feeling – and this humble croft from 2022 did just that. New Tolsta was owned by artist Tom Hickman, who had bought it in 2006 and painstakingly restored it. Before him, the 1930s croft had been uninhabited for 37 years. Tom took 15 years to renovate it, so it was no rushed job. By the time he had finished, it was part traditional croft and part art gallery – but it was also 100% a home. At the time of his win, Tom was very much of the philosophy that less is more. He said: 'To me, the art of restoring it is to make it so that it doesn't look as if anything has been done to it – don't lose the charm.' But he is also an artist – and as a result, Bakelite switches remained, but floorboards were painted. A four poster bed was a resounding yes, and art was everywhere. No wonder they handed Tom the title. This one is in because I loved the staircase and I can go and look at it from the outside any time I want because it's pretty much round the corner from me. I know, these are very narrow criteria. A long time ago in 2021, Gaelle and Simon Patton showed us the Colonel's House in Inverness. The couple were from the Loire Valley and Lancashire respectively and first moved to Scotland in 2002. This Victorian end-of-terrace had everything – traditional exterior, an interior injected with a touch of the exotic and a great history. It had originally been occupied by, you guessed it, the Colonel of the city's Cameron Barracks. But it had been turned into an eight-bedroom B&B and been stripped of many of its period features, so there was work to be done. Then end result was an eclectic and strong decor full of surprises. The Colonel's House went up for sale last month and is currently under offer. Skye has always punched above its weight on Shoty. This year alone, two of the three north finalists were from the Misty Isle. An Cala was lovely and a worthy episode winner, but I suspect Lena Vurma and Thor Klein's tin-clad cabin might be remembered too. The film-making couple, from Switzerland and Germany respectively, bought half a croft and took it from there. They harnessed the local community to help with their tiny build, and really took advantage of the surroundings. Lena said at the time: 'You look out of the window and see the horizon – we can even see the northern lights from our cabin. 'I just really love how the windows frame the landscape outside – even from the bed. One side we see the sunrise over the Cuillins, then the other side we have perfectly framed the sunset over Loch Harport.' The tiny footprint means whoever lives there really needs to get on with each other. But the views are to die for and the design is genius. Read more from Shoty:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store