Scotland’s Home of the Year*** (BBC Scotland, last night)
WAS it the stuffed badger what lost it? The pale grey sofas? Too much concrete? As the final of Scotland’s Home of the Year confirmed, judging other people’s houses is a genteel bloodsport, but a bloodsport nevertheless.
“This feels like doing something horrible to a kitten,” said Anna Campbell-Jones as she asked her fellow judges to cast a critical eye over a cute 1970s bungalow in Dalgetty Bay.
But after seven weeks and visits to 21 houses across Scotland, there had to be a winner. The final seven ranged from a flat in Glasgow Green to a castle in Tain.
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Judge and architect Michael Angus said the standard was exemplary, “way beyond anything I was actually predicting”. He was probably not alone in his surprise.
Made for the BBC by Glasgow-based IWC Media (makers of Location, Location, Location), Scotland’s Home of the Year presented a side of the country that is often overlooked. This was affluent, houseproud, life beyond the Central Belt, Scotland. If VisitScotland started a campaign on the back of this show the slogan might be: “Scotland: It’s not all Trainspotting you know”.
The finalists gathered at the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow, where they got to check out photographs of each other’s homes. The judges and viewers, having had a right good nosey - technical term - round the properties in previous programmes, had the better deal. We didn’t have to be scrupulously polite about the double pivot windows and that slightly creepy underfloor storage. The judges, though each stated ad tedium how impossible it was to pick a winner, were surprisingly ruthless when it came time to whittle down the seven to three then one.
First up was the Stonehaven home with the stuffed badger and other quirky pieces. Michael had not been a fan. The third judge, Kate Spiers, billed as a “globally renowned lifestyle blogger”, found herself warming to the large omnivore (the badger, not Michael), but all agreed that the interior of the extension was too modern and did not fit with the rest of the house.
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As for the Glasgow Green flat, Kate said she would not want to live there full time, while another property in Angus was deemed too minimal, too tidy and too clean. “It just didn’t seem like a home in some ways,” she said. The castle in Tain, rebuilt from a near ruin, had marks knocked off because the nooks and crannies the judges so adored were from the original property. Ruthless, see?
Extended to an hour, the final felt desperately stretched, even with the three judges visiting landmark houses around Scotland. After much faffing around, and standing before the contestants in true MasterChef/Great British Bake Off fashion, a winner was announced: the White House in Kirkcudbright, Dumfriesshire.
Stunningly designed inside and out, with magnificent views of the Solway Firth, this was always going to be the one to beat. Kudos to the judges, though, for also choosing the Dalgetty Bay bungalow and the modern design house on Skye. In the end, the judges wisely remembered that this was a home of the year competition, and not a house of the year show. A home looks comfy, inviting, the sort of place in which you would love to spend time. A show house, in contrast, looks like hard work.
Scottish Home of the Year was a well made, safe bet of a programme. Like the Dalgetty Bay bungalow, it was never going to win awards for its edginess. But it is exactly the kind of show the new BBC Scotland channel needs to bring viewers in. Who knows, they might even stick around for a right good nosey round the rest of the schedule.
Full series on iPlayer
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