Scotland's Home of the Year review as bonkers bungalow with gymnasium floor wins it
Two men with opposing viewpoints, an issue over authenticity and a woman standing between them trying to sort it all out.
This wasn’t Rishi Sunak vs Sir Keir Starmer: The Rematch – hud me back from that – but a little disagreement in the final of Scotland’s Home of the Year.
Danny Campbell thought the Old Mill was perhaps too stuck in the past and could have benefited from mixing some new with the old.
But fellow judge Banjo Beale insisted the past could not be ignored. This had been an industrial building before being abandoned for 25 years. Remarkable that it could call itself a home now, never mind one of the contenders for the prize.
Beale is an Aussie now based on Mull. It would be interesting to know if he’s become aware of the Scottish alternative meaning of his unusual name, but ultimately he did not have to banjo anyone during the adjudications. There was none of that unseemly squabbling and the verdict was unanimous, one that can be enjoyed by bungalow dwellers everywhere.
All bungalows may look more or less the same on the outside, but as head judge Anna Campbell Jones remarked: “I don’t think I’ve ever been in an interior like this one.”
If you’re nosey and drive out to Milngavie hoping to spot the winning abode, you may struggle. It’s the home of art school graduates Anna and Harry, with the latter admitting: “Some of these houses are quite tasteful, whereas ours is not tasteful at all!”
Called 1960s Bungalow for the competition, it’s a riot of colour and craziness indoors. Does that flooring look familiar? It came from an old school gymnasium. There’s quirkiness everywhere and Beale gushed: “It’s a house as a pop-up book.”
It possibly wasn’t my favourite bungalow to make the final. Maybe I preferred Fran and Martin’s Coldwater with its cool sunken lounge, but then what do I know? I wasn’t aware there was such a word as – this uttered by Campbell – “materialities”.
Coldwater is in Linlithgow and the Old Mill is Dunblane. Together with Mofatt’s Honeysuckle Cottage, they fell by the wayside after the judges, en-route to “the deliberations room”, had strode purposefully in slo-mo. That’s a well-used stunt from Reservoir Dogs, but I bet Quentin Tarantino never thought it would eventually find its way into a Scottish TV show celebrating the best in home renovation.
Six were whittled down to three, including Aviemore’s Earth House (Beale: “Ah the apothecary room – every home needs one”) and Banchory’s Quiney Cottage, which seemed set to win. Re-watching footage of their visit, Beale cooed: “What a moment … that chequerboard threshold.” Campbell admired it differently: “Sorry to be so dry, but I loved how that space was connected with four different door types.” Sweet as Quiney was, though, Jones reckoned there were “probably other versions somewhere else in the world”, whereas 1960s Bungalow was a wacky one-off.
Referring to Harry and Anna, she said: “Only these people could have made it like that.” Campbell enthused: “There’s something humble about them having kept the unassuming exterior. They’re not showing off to the world, the house is for them.”
The winners agreed it was a reflection of their personalities. “And it’s going to change again,” said Anna. Harry, shocked: “It is?”
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