RTÉ One 8.30pm Tuesday February 23rd
HOME OF THE YEAR SERIES 7 – EPISODE 2
House 1
Rachel and Robert Hobbs live with their three children in a modernised 1800s farmhouse with extension in Co. Cork. They bought their home in 2017 and worked hard to create a fun, functional family home. They retained three external walls of the original house and built from there. They converted a small shed and joined it to the build of the original house. They began demolishing in November 2018 and moved in December 2019. It was a self-build project so they were hands on and lived on site while it was happening. They wanted to reflect the original house and surroundings as well as having a home that could work for three small children. They have lots of fun elements such as a floor net on the landing area, a climbing wall in their son’s room and the front door is at the back of the house. They worked with an architect on the design of their home and Rachel designed the interiors.
House 2
Jennifer Sheahan is very proud of the design of her late 1800s cottage in Dublin. She wanted one of these cottages for a long time and was delighted when one came on the market in 2019. It needed a lot of work as it was damp, had no central heating and the toilet was outside. Jennifer did a complete renovation, knocked all internal walls, dug up the floor and lowered it plus added on an extra floor to make it a two-storey house. There are clever storage solutions throughout this home. Jennifer describes her style as modern, playful and colourful. She loves that it is fun, comfortable and loves to see people’s reactions when they see a feature such as her disco ball light in her brightly coloured downstairs toilet.
House 3
Richard Brown and Lara Salmon-Brown live in a self-build contemporary farmhouse on their farm in Co. Down. Their home was built on Richard’s family farm in 2016. They wanted the exterior front of the house to mimic what a traditional farmhouse would look like. They have a barn extension at the back of the house and they wanted this style so it would blend perfectly with the farm yard. They don’t like a lot of clutter and describe the house as quite minimal with a few traditional undertones in places. Their open plan kitchen/living and dining area is very contemporary with a concrete floor which they say is ideal for farm living as it’s easy to maintain. They both love the connection with the outdoors and how much of the outdoors they can enjoy from inside the house. Each room in the house offers a different view of the scenic countryside.
SERIES OVERVIEW
One of Ireland’s favourite lifestyle shows Home of the Year is back for a seventh series with two new judges at the helm. This year returning judge, architect and founding partner of Douglas Wallace Consultants, Hugh Wallace is joined by two new judges, award winning interior designer Suzie Mc Adam and award-winning architect Amanda Bone. (Further information on the judges is available below)
As a nation we’re still at Level 5 and we’re being encouraged to stay at home. With the new series of Home of the Year you can visit three other houses virtually from the comfort of your own couch (whether it’s a Chesterfield sofa or a hanging egg chair!) every Tuesday for 8 weeks from February 16th. Join judges Hugh, Suzie and Amanda as they take us through the keyhole of 21 stunning homes from the four corners of Ireland. The series features homes in Antrim, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Down, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Louth and Westmeath.
The seventh series of the hugely popular Home of the Year
will champion creativity and showcase individuality and clever design.Over 8 weeks, 21 homes will compete for the Home of the Year title in 2021. From new builds, restorations and re-design the series features people who have created their dream homes. The series this year features a diverse mix of homes including converted mills, a converted schoolhouse, apartments, bespoke architectural new builds, re-imagined cottages and bungalows, DIY homes, restored period homes and vernacular buildings. Looking for individuality, functionality and clever design, the three judges will individually score each of the homes out of 10, the home with the highest combined score in each programme will go through to the final in April, where the ultimate winner will be crowned.
Home of the Year is produced by ShinAwiL for RTÉ One.
Home of the Year is proudly sponsored by Phonewatch.
The series starts on Tuesday the 16th February at 8.30pm on RTÉ One and runs for eight weeks.