How a Tiny Lakeside Cabin Stole the Show | Home Of The Year Ireland Season 2 Episode 8

In the Search for Ireland's Home of the Year, we have visited 21 remarkable homes. I'm in heaven here. Tonight, the judges celebrate the seven finalists and face the tough challenge of choosing just one of them to be the winner. This competition has shown the amazing creativity, consistency, design, detail, passion, love that all of these homeowners have for their homes. Coming into these people's homes, it's kind of like opening Pandora's box because you're walking around the house and every room reveals something new about the people that live there. And it's been a real privilege to be allowed to do that. What you're really seeing is people being honest and throwing caution to the wind and saying, this is how I want to live, this is what I want my house to be like. It doesn't matter about budget, it doesn't matter about size, it doesn't matter about location, it's all about creativity. And when you get a homeowner who really understands the building that they live in and they bring it to life, that's where the magic is. But only one of them can go home with the trophy. Seven very different finalists, three very different judges. Somehow, we need to pick a winner. Let the games begin. This is the final of Home of the Year. Tonight we're in Ballina House, a beautiful 19th century historic home in County Kildare, where our finalists are coming together for the very first time. I can't believe that the house actually got this far just to even be in the final. It's a dream come true. The standard has been outstanding. I've seen homes in this competition that honestly took my breath away. I'm really excited to see their houses. I'm very chuffed to be here and privileged to be here today. Today is a very exciting day because it's a culmination of lots of work, lots of investigation, lots of seeking out the very best. This is the tough part of the competition because they all deserve to be there in the final. They're all very different, they're all very unique, they all stand for something. We also meet the homeowners for the first time. It just makes the process all the more difficult. But the judges won't get to meet the homeowners just yet. Until they reach a consensus on the winner, they will remain in their deliberation room. Across the hall and away from the judges, the homeowners have their own chance to size up the competition and wait in the hope that they might take the trophy and be crowned the winner. This is kind of like a pick and mix. We don't know which house we're going to arrive at. I do think the house is very special. We walk around pinching ourselves. I feel we're very lucky to be living in such a lovely home and it's a real pleasure. Your house is over there with the cement wall. I don't think it is. No, no. Maybe we'll go and have a look. And look, do you see I have a pink floor as well. Do you? Yeah. This is my house. This is my friend. It looks amazing. I'm very excited because I'm very interested in architecture now because of the house and I'm interested in meeting other people that care about where they live and the design elements of their lives. Three generations live in our house and we built a house that we could spend time as a family. It's very relaxed. It's not at all precious. It's been fascinating seeing the other houses and also matching the homes with the people who live there. Is that the guys I sent past? I was thinking it was. Yeah, this is my favourite. That's really nice. Wow. We've had loads of fun travelling the country. We've picked out seven standout homes. I think we need a bit of a refresher why each one of them made it to the final. I want to start with this one, the plastic house. I was actually blown away by the creativity and the passion and the bravery of the person who lives in this home. I'm delighted that this house is in the competition because it really is out there. It was just extraordinary. It's changed my perception of what you can actually do with houses like this. You pull everything out. You plonk in a pod. Everything revolves around it. There was a floating quality about it. There was nothing heavy or weighty about it and you know it's such a small space. I think the polycarbonate was a really clever material to use to give it that impression. They obviously saw beyond the sort of great white space and they saw that I tried to let the design do most of the talking. Do you want to know what's amazing about that bedroom? This is probably the smallest house here and it's probably the biggest bedroom. That shouldn't be possible. That's clever design for me on another level. And to cap it all, that amazing bathroom. So you could be having a shower under the skies. Brilliant. This is my house. That's what I said. How could you not guess? I did not. Really? Oh you got it. Next up is this incredible workshop conversion in Galway. A lot of people would arrive at this building and just demolish it. But the owner here took that building and has adapted it and created just such a unique home. Where else are you going to get those big pitched roofs, double height spaces? Their sense of style was just on another level as well. It's kind of a Nordic industrial style and New York loft so the height of the ceilings was really important to us. So just tying all of that in. I just love the fact that this used to be a workshop and it's still used. There's still a studio there. That kind of stayed with me for a long time because I love the fact that I hadn't forgotten about where it had come from. And having the rings in the living room, it must be so much fun being a kid living in that house. And that little loft space upstairs, I mean that was just divine. Inspirational. Is this your swig? Yeah. And you swig it every day do you? Sometimes on the way out of school in the morning. And how high do you go? I go almost up to the lamp. Up to the lamp? Our next finalist is this wonderful extended cottage. The people here were quite amazing in the way they'd used and salvaged materials and the simplicity of the design. They used every single square inch of that original cottage. Like every single square inch and then some. We basically wanted to keep the cottage as a separate building. We didn't want to interfere with it. So we added on two extra buildings. It's a beautiful job. Well done. Thank you very much. Definitely the people themselves created this. It wasn't created by somebody else who then said this is how you should live. It was very organic actually. Tons of character. Lovely colours. Plus big windows Declan. Out back onto the terrace. What more do you want? There you go. To keep the hen out but it doesn't work. It's a lovely modernist design. Very crisp. No surprises here that I totally loved this home. Big cantilever, glass everywhere. All about the landscape. Bringing it all in. Really, really impressive stuff. The cantilever was almost like a pair of hands that were just bringing the nature into the house. The architecture was matched I think with the style as well inside. It was a treat for me to walk around. Quite an extraordinary house to have in the final. What I really loved was the arrival. Up that sort of gravelly road. Then you open the door and get blown away. It's hard to compare houses. There's so many individual styles and very unique homes. So we're just happy that our home was nestled amongst them. This is your house yeah? Wow. Congratulations. It is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Can you tell with all the pink? I like the pink. I love the pink floor. There are oodles of personality in this home. It really is all about the person who lives here and how they're able to express themselves. Every time you turned around a corner there was another bit of humour somewhere. This house was definitely showing that you can take any house and make it unique, special. Tons of personality. Loads of consistency. The thing I really loved about this home was that there was no one big move. No big extension or a double height space. It didn't have that one big wow moment and in fact it was the style that was the wow moment. This is like when you're in a cinema and the seats fold down. So I inherited this little house when my dad died. So during the renovation it was very important to keep that sense that I remember from my childhood. Beautiful. You did a stunning, stunning job. There was such a magical feel about this home. I think the setting here is what set this apart. Totally tucked away on the lake. It had its own private peninsula. There's no end to the views. Have you a little boat now out the front? A couple of mackerel in the bridge. It's just a gorgeous place to relax. It can be howling again outside and we just put another log on the fire. It's a small building but they opened it up, they raised the roof, big sliding windows bringing all of that landscape in and just a design eye everywhere. What made it unique and special was the furniture, the textures, the colours. Faultless, faultless design. It was a very special home. And now we're going to look at our final home, our beautifully restored period home in Dublin. As soon as we went through the front door, it had quite an extraordinary hallway that respected the original architecture of this house. And you had that arts and crafts staircase which was still intact in the form and the shape of it. It's just perfect. The first day we walked into the house, the stairs drew me in and I could see my daughters in their wedding dresses. Oh, I could just imagine. I got that moment and I could see our family growing with the house. It's just gorgeous. It's the one thing about the house that had me at the front door. You were sold. For me, the extension at the back I thought was just brilliant. Very simple architecture, it had a really good open plan space. The attention to detail and the love and passion that this family have brought to this home is just brilliant. Top to bottom, layout spot on and great sense of style. Amazing furniture and a true family home. It was such a pleasure today to see other people's homes. You could really see the love and care and time that people put into making these homes so special. I loved how you could relate the people to the house. I mean, it's very, very clear that that house belonged to those people and I thought that was so interesting. It was great hearing people's stories. You know, how they came to do their house or what the history was, the background. The houses are nuts when you see them. You don't think you're in Ireland looking at them all there. I think the judges are going to be pulling their hair out at this stage. There's such a variety of beautiful homes on display. It must make it very hard for the judges to parse it out between them. House envy. House envy as well, yeah. It's strong. Very strong. It's the final of Home of the Year. With seven exceptional homes vying for the title, the judges must now select a winner. And it's not going to be easy. 21 homes have been absolutely extraordinary. To have to whittle it down to seven was difficult enough. Now we have only one winner. There's a challenge. The scoring that we've done before is irrelevant because now we do have to look at them as a group and compare them against each other. We need to look at them all and say, right, what's standing out? Which is better than the other? Let's get on with it. When you actually look at the seven finalists, you put them out there, they're so diverse. There's such a range of design, there's such a range of personality and creativity. Each one is unique for different reasons and they should all be celebrated. It's got to be tough picking just one out of those seven. Right, quick fire quiz. No messing around. Kitchens? This kitchen and that kitchen. Never guessed. I liked actually this one and this one. Yeah, that was a plan. It is amazing. In terms of function, they really thought about how they were going to live in this house. Big extension onto an existing building and it posed that problem, the middle room. What do you do when you extend out the back? And here, they have the most amazing dining room. I agree because I live in open plan and I'd love to have another room to escape to. But I felt that that extension was just a smidgen too big. Do you? Yeah, that extra bay at the back, I would have pulled that back personally. Well, for me, this home had the best kitchen, living, dining room, open plan area. While it was quite small, I think it really worked. Yeah, I loved it. It was a great little layout. But I mean, if you're saying that's the best open plan space in the whole competition, that for me is number one. Trump's everything else, very clever, totally connected with the landscape, pure perfection in terms of open plan living. And it should be. It's a new build. All of the other houses have to adapt. And in my view, the creativity that they've shown outweighs the creativity here because it's a new build. I'm actually torn between that one and the cabin. Well, we have to be untorn. I actually really find it very difficult. It's kind of… Give it to me. Give it to me. No, I'm going to take my time. It's going to have to be some give and take today, but there's not going to be any give from me. That, to me, is a much more creative home with much more personality than this. It's rare we agree on anything, so this is going to be a monumental challenge. I mean, it's a prototype. It is like an art installation. It's super, super clever. Absolutely, that's it. That was quite an extraordinary piece of creativity. But I think that, you know, for me, this house was a really clever piece of design. This was about creativity, consistency, amazing design at a price. That's right. You know, there was definitely value for money. That's the thing about smaller spaces, though. You really have to embrace clever design. You have to try and maximise every single square inch that you have, so you have to be clever. There's no getting away from it. Talk about clever design. This person decided, I'm going to sacrifice a bit of space in my home for a fantastic wardrobe. What's interesting about this house is it shows I don't need to get in a bulldozer and demolish anything. I can actually go in there and use my creativity and deliver a unique home. That's the learning for me in this. Yes, exactly. But I'd be leaning more towards that one, to be perfectly honest. When it comes to personality and creativity, there was a lot going on in that house. The things they had done were very original, and yet they allowed things to breathe, whereas this one was actually full on. I think there might be a battle of wills, but I'm willing to fight my corner. To me, that house just oozed homeliness. I think that's the thing about the concept of home, is that we can talk about open plant spaces, bathrooms, kitchens, things like that, but homes are more than the sum of their parts. Everything comes together. The sensation when you walk into a place and what it does to you. There's different feelings in different homes. That was amazing, just to be in that space. This was amazing for different reasons, different types of feelings. Homeliness for me is… So which has it? Which was the most homely for me. For you. Because that's what we're getting down to now. There is a responsibility in choosing the winner, because you have to be able to justify it in your own head. And it isn't a whim, and it's a process which we've gone through. And all three of us hold that responsibility to our hearts. We're kind of realising that we don't really want to say goodbye to anybody. Well, we have to, unfortunately. Yeah. This is very difficult, but we can't go around in circles. It's only for that reason that I'm suggesting we put this one out first. Much as I love it, great family home, super extension. Looking at other spaces, other rooms, other homes, and there's other ones that I just want to keep in the competition more. I think the others have more individuality, and for that reason I would agree with you that this one may be the first one to go. Well, for me this was just an extraordinary arts and crafts style house, but unfortunately this is going to be our first home to be eliminated. This is a very difficult process, and I'm very sad to see that house go. I'm struggling, because they all have their merits. I am going to put forward, and I'm sure there'll be a banter about it, but this one. This is a complete one-off, completely unique. There's creativity in all of the other ones, but this is extraordinary. It's too early in this competition for this to go out. We have to put it back. We have to. If I had my way, I'd let them all win, because they all are fantastic homes. What about this one instead? You know, I'm reluctant to do this, because in many ways this is at the essence of what this whole competition is about. The standard is really high. We do need to make another decision. Obviously I just love this home and its bubbly personality, but I do concur that other homes have other elements which are stronger, so unfortunately I agree, but it is exceptionally difficult. We're down to five. So we have two here that I think are very, very similar. Loads of style, loads of personality. But unfortunately, one of them has to go, and I'm suggesting that it's this home. There's no easy decisions. No. No, let's be honest. So, are we agreed? Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, it's getting hard now. When you think about the criteria, this home has it all. This one as well, though. They all have it, but I think the scales are tipping. I'm going to suggest this home. I'm going to obviously fight tooth and nail for this one. I really want to keep it in. We're now in the procrastination stage. We have to agree. Well, we have to reach a consensus. We have four homes left, all quite unique, all quite different. But if anything, this home, for me, should leave the competition at this stage. I feel quite a connection to this one, but I think it has to go now. As we all do. Now we're down to three. I'm going to put my cards on the table. I'm saying that home should be winner of Home of the Year. I totally agree. Actually, the more and more we're talking this through, it keeps coming back up. It's got everything we're looking for. Actually, it left a real lasting impression on me when I visited. I am delighted that we're actually in consensus on this one, because it encompasses, I think, everything that we've been looking for in this competition. This is a truly deserved and worthy winner, and I'm thrilled. Let's go and meet the homeowners. It's an amazing moment to walk out there, because it's very emotional. Because all of a sudden, what isn't tangible, because you haven't met these people, becomes real. The homes become real. Their commitment to their house becomes real. Welcome to the final of Home of the Year. With all of your incredible homes, you've made the task of selecting a winner particularly tough. But before we reveal who that is, we want to tell you which homes made it into the top three. The first home had a huge impact on all of us. It was extraordinary. It was simple, it was pure, it was elegant. Real architectural perfection set beautifully into the landscape. But more than that, it's just a great family home. And that is the contemporary home in County Tipperary. Thrilled. I mean, it's a real acknowledgement of all the work that went into the house. The next home that we really admired was filled with character. It was a little gem in a fabulous setting. And it is the cabin in the woods in County Westmeath. I found the whole process actually, in the end, quite emotional. The last piece of the puzzle to finally meet the family that actually gets to enjoy those amazing houses. And the final home in the top three was just bursting full of personality and creativity. And it was a joyous home to visit. The extended cottage in County Clare. It was a shock. Yeah, very tough though. Very tough. But of course, there can only be one winner. We have decided that the winner of Home of the Year is the cabin in the woods in County Westmeath. Congratulations. Well deserved. Well done. Thank you. Congratulations. It feels fantastic. It really does, because the standard of the competition was just so high. We're really proud of creating our dream home. We all were going to move in. And then to have people love it as well, just feels really, really fantastic. I think my parents would be very, very proud. I'm absolutely thrilled. Definitely the right house. I am so relieved. I am so happy. This home had it all from top to toe. And it was the surprise of opening the door that made it exceptional. It was the simplicity of the home. It was the beautiful flow. The aspect to the water. The fact they embraced nature into the home. And then they just brought it to life with an unbelievable sense of style. You get all of that together, it's pretty potent. It was a bit of love at first sight for me here. I could move in tomorrow. I have to tell you, very envious. We put a lot of effort and a lot of love into the house to have that repaid today. It's fabulous. It's left me with an immense feeling of joy, but also actually pride that these homeowners have created these fantastic homes that will hopefully inspire other people to be encouraged, to be brave and to create a fantastic home. I'm going to actually well up here now. Thank you.