Design fans, set your reminders to 7 pm. It's the return of the houseproud’s favourite TV show Home of the Year, and it promises a selection box of ideas for you to try at home.
Home of the Year returns to our screens tonight.
This 12th series marks the last one with anchor Hugh Wallace, who passed away unexpectedly last December.
As a series, you might expect it to be bittersweet.
Hugh was the only judge to front every one of the dozen series filmed to date.
As an architect who excelled at interiors, his second life as a broadcaster brought an understanding of the subject and of what audiences wanted to see and hear, and it wasn’t always just the pretty stuff. The series showcased his range.
But it isn’t.
We’re not allowed to say any more than that until after the first episode airs, but rest assured that Hugh will be doing what he does best, drawing your attention to lots of great design ideas.
As will fellow judges, architect Amanda Bone, and interior designer and April and the Bear lifestyle store owner, Siobhan Lam.
The design features they flag will launch thousands more Pinterest boards, and the series promises a good mix of heritage properties, contemporary clean lines and viral moments. Remember the disco ball bathroom from the Dublin 6 artisan cottage, the 2021 winner?
The show has made household names of its present judges. It also brought the previous judges' talents to a wider audience. These include four other architects: Declan O’Donnell, of ODKM Architects, Patrick Bradley; Deirdre Whelan, associate with Scott Tallon Walker and co-lead of its interior design studio, and Peter Crowley of PAC Studio.
Also in the mix were two interior designers, Suzie McAdam and Sara Cosgrove, along with Helen James, one of the inaugural judges who launched her own Considered range at Dunnes Stores at the same time.
That’s a lot of design talent to come out of one show. And that’s before you get to the homeowners and their creatively decorated and designed abodes.
Three couples, with homes in Co. Kildare, Co Wicklow and Dublin, take the judges through their front doors.
The premise of the show remains simple.
It appeals to our nosy nature, as the series takes us beyond the front parlours of the nation’s most house-proud to give us a glimpse into almost every corner of their immaculately turned-out residences. Since its inception, viewers have peered into over 230 abodes, according to this writer’s calculations.
Of the 11 winners so far, three of the properties were in Co. Dublin, two in Co. Wicklow, two in Co. Antrim and one in each of the counties Limerick, Clare, Westmeath and Cork.
Here is a quick recap of the diverse styles of the winning homes:
2025: Colourful family home in Limerick
Last year, a 1970s-built structure in Limerick won the gong. Owners Amy and Eoin Martin had spent time in Australia and spent years renting before transforming their upside-down house.
A decade Hugh loved, he likened the house to the TV series The Brady Bunch; “amazing colours and connection with a stunning garden.”
2024: Jewel box terraced house in Dublin
Shane Murray and Marty Campbell's rich and bold renovation of a 1920's terraced house featured a moody palette that expertly mixed antiques and vintage-inspired pieces, demonstrating a flair for the subject that was fitting since Shane had studied interior design at college.
2023: Views framed by picture windows in Co. Antrim
Rob and Janice McConnell's new architectural build in Co. Antrim was influenced by their time in Australia. It featured muted tones and minimal furniture so as not to distract from the sea and sylvan views from every window.
2022: Intangible qualities woo Hugh in Co Wicklow
The Wicklow farmhouse owned by Kate and Shane Byrne was gently upgraded. The 150-year-old property had been in Shane’s family for three generations. What swung it for Wallace? Rather than swanky furniture or impressive colour combinations, it was its intangible qualities that won him over, he explains. “It was the feeling of the family, the fun, the history and the memories, that’s what makes a home for me.”
2021: Disco inferno in Dublin 6
Jen Sheahan’s maximising of space in her Dublin 6 artisan cottage scooped her the 2021 prize. She pulled up the floors and dug down to increase its inner volume, cleverly giving her the space to add a second floor to this bijou house. She tore out internal walls to open it up and added a disco ball to the bathroom.
2020: Kick marks from the hooves of earlier occupants in west Dublin
Ethna Dorman’s converted coach house and stables in west Dublin, complete with kick marks from the hooves of earlier occupants, is a more genteel champion, pipping edgier architectural contestants to the post in 2020.
Although the former stables hark back to the 1830s, it channels the vogue for nostalgia and for abodes that feel as well as look like homes. Ambience was its secret ingredient.
“It was probably the most charming house I have ever been in,” explained judge Peter Cowley of PAC Studio.
2019: Stately pile in Belfast
Ciara Denvir was crowned as the winner of Home of the Year 2019 for the renovation of stately home Ormiston House, a Victorian manor in Belfast that was built by James Combe in 1867 and was sold to Sir Edward Harland of Harland and Wolff shipyard, where the Titanic was built.
It had been used as a boarding school and government offices and had lain derelict for nearly 20 years before Ciara and her husband, Peter Boyle, rehabilitated it and delivered a masterclass in the modernisation of a period house.
2018: Country cottage in Co Wicklow
Ros and Patrick Walshe's farmhouse cottage in the Wicklow hills mixed fabrics and textures from their travels and lives together to create a vaulted longhouse that featured exposed crossbeams and deep sills painted in contrasting colours to the mainly white walls.
2017: Sleek rural home in Co Clare
The extended and contemporarised cottage, owned by Louisa McGuane and Dominic McCarthy, celebrated its local landscape with large picture windows framing the pastoral views.
It mixed contemporary design with salvaged materials to create a relaxed look.
Branded jaw-dropping by Hugh, it included a kitchen with blackboard walls and cabinetry fronted with timber from a floor salvaged from a local parish hall, also a feature of the principal bedroom, accessed via cantilevered stairs made from old railway sleepers.
2016: Chalet chic by the lake in Co Westmeath
Interior designer Egon Walesch and Richard Goodwin’s lakeside cabin in the woods in County Westmeath celebrated its location through decor and colour.
The couple upgraded its creature comforts and brought in modernity by knocking down internal walls and opening up ceilings to create an open-plan space with doors that opened to a deck and lakeside views.
2015: The inaugural winners' home was designed by their son
Ita Molloy and Andrew Harvey’s eco-friendly, split-level home in Castletownbere, West Cork, was designed by Ita's son, architect Donn Ponnighaus. Its windows framed the mountain and sea views of the Wild Atlantic Way. A library with a secret door particularly delighted the judges.
Home of the Year series 12 debuts tonight, Tuesday, March 2nd, at 7 pm on RTÉ One and can also be seen on RTÉ Player.
