Scotland's Home of the Year: Look inside stunning New Town two-level apartment with Dean Bridge views

Scotsman

02-05-2025

In the case of Rebecca Brown, applying to appear on Scotland's Home of the Year was a rather impromptu decision.
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'It was closing the next day, and they replied very quickly to ask if I'd send some photos,' says the property developer and profit coach. 'Then I got a call to say that the producer is in Edinburgh next Thursday. 'Can she come and see you?' And then the next thing, yes, I was in. It happened really quickly, and I had got a camera crew at my house before I knew it'.
Ms Brown and her New Town two-level apartment will be starring on episode three, East, and will be going up against an extended bungalow in Anstruther, and a tenement flat in Stockbridge.
To make the shortlist is a real thrill for Ms Brown, as she is a huge SHOTY fan. She even watches the Welsh version of the series, and her favourite judge on the Scottish round is Anna Campbell-Jones.
'I like her because she's consistent, but I think Banjo is good fun too,' says Ms Brown, who lives in her garden flat with her husband, Derek.
On a superficial level, you don't see the amount of work that's gone into this couple's property. They bought it in 2021, and had to completely reconfigure the space before actually moving in. They used GLM Architects in Edinburgh to do the work, since the company are specialists in historic buildings and the flat is A-listed.
In what might be considered an unusual move, they changed it from a four bedroom property, to a two bedroom, in order to get the living spaces that they wanted.
'It took us two years to get planning, to get the warrants in place and decide what we wanted to do, and then it took 12 months to actually get the work done,' she says. 'So on the ground floor, which is the floor you come in on, we basically reconfigured it to give us a bigger entrance hall, and then we reconfigured the master bedroom. Downstairs, the kitchen was a bedroom and utility room. To do the work, we took out three supporting walls, so we were propping up the whole six storey property'.
Thankfully, the nearby residents aren't at home very often, so didn't complain about any noise.
'We were quite lucky in that the neighbours immediately above us don't live there very often, but I mean, we did disturb the neighbours., there's no doubt about it. It could have been worse though,' she says.
As far as the interior decor goes, Ms Brown, who owns a vast back catalogue of 25 Beautiful Homes Magazine, likes to think of her style as 'understated elegance'.
This is evident throughout the chic property.
'I've never been a dan of clutter and I'm not really into twee,' says Ms Brown, who has just signed up for an interior design course to develop her part-time passion.
Her flat mainly features white walls, and judiciously placed artworks, including Vettriano prints. The colour palette includes just a few of Brown's favourite hues.
'Green is my favourite colour, definitely. And then in the sitting room, I've got the gold, which also appears in the bathroom,' she says. 'In the sitting room, there's a bespoke rug that's pink and it was lovely to put that splash in there, and then the cushions pick up on all those colours'.
There are some lovely and tactile soft furnishings around the flat, but the most sybaritic room is probably the bathroom, with its gorgeous slipper bath.
The couple loved this piece so much that they bought it from The Albion Bath Company a year before the property renovation was finished, and had to move it from room to room while the work was completed.
However, Brown's favourite space of all is probably the downstairs kitchen, which was inspired by a New York apartment. It contrasts against the rest of the flat, as it has an industrial feel.
'The comfortable and understated style has always been what I've wanted for sitting rooms, bedrooms and so on, but the kitchen was my chance to do something different,' she says. 'I've always wanted to go slightly more industrial, and this was a chance to do it, because we completely gutted the place'.
So, there's granite and a dark floor, bare lightbulbs and a pair of glossy black tables that Brown had specially made. The look is softened with plants, and colourful prints. It's dramatic and extremely cool.
'We love entertaining friends and family there. I do love the kitchen, but then I also love my sitting room because it's cosy, and my bedroom because I can just sit and see the view to Dean Bridge,' she says.
However, we're sure that many viewers of Scotland's Home of the Year will be most jealous of the couple's vast wine cellar, which is under the pavement. Let's hope the judges haven't taken a corkscrew with them.
'I think they'll like that space,' says Ms Brown. 'I don't know if many people have still got the original wine cellars and are using them for that purpose. The people we bought the property from, they just used it like a shed, as storage, with tools and stuff in there. I wanted to use it as a sort of larder, and my husband said, no, we'll start collecting wine'.
The couple might have to have a little snifter before watching their episode.
After all, Ms Brown has the pre-fame jitters, and the couple will be coming back from holiday that day, and are hoping to get to the flat on time.
'I'm slightly wondering what I've done,' she says, 'I wasn't even expecting to get on the show'.
Episode three of Scotland's Home of the Year is on BBC One Scotland on Monday May 5 at 8.30pm-9pm, www.bbc.co.uk
1 . Rebecca Brown outside the property
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2 . The cooking area in the kitchen and dining area, with hanging plants and marble work surfaces
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3 . The man bedroom with ochre cushions
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4 . The bathroom with its slipper bath and gold wallpaper
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