A house in Highland Perthshire has been crowned Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year.
The popular property show returned on Monday night for a one-off Christmas special.
Judges Anna Campbell-Jones, Michael Angus and new guest judge Banjo Beale (winner of Interior Design Masters) hunted down Scotland’s most festive homes.
Three of the five properties featured in Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year are in East and Central Scotland – rural Perthshire, Glenrothes, and Bridge of Allan.
As well as looking at architectural merit and interior design, the judges also marked the finalists on festive flair and Christmas spirit.
Perthshire
The show’s winning house is Easter Shian, which is in beautiful Glen Quaich, midway between Crieff, Dunkeld and Aberfeldy.
Debbie Halls-Evans and her husband Dave bought the house in August 2020. “We got it on my 50th birthday,” Debbie says. “It was the best present I could have asked for.”
Debbie, 52, is from Bolton and Dave, 46, comes from Moray. They lived in Bolton and then Mallorca before deciding to relocate to Scotland.
They rented in Edinburgh before discovering Easter Shian when a cottage came up for sale.
The farmhouse dates from 1705 and the couple were entranced by its remote location.
Secret glen
Debbie continues: “Glen Quaich is the secret glen. Nobody knows it’s here but it’s beautiful. We love it. Dave is a cyclist and he loves to bike over the hills to Dunkeld.”
Debbie admits to having reservations about Easter Shian but she soon fell in love with the house.
“It needed a lot of work,” she continues. “The boiler, the sceptic tank and the water supply were all condemned. We were drinking salmonella.
“Once we pulled away all the 1970s décor we started to discover lots of original features, such as a date stone. We also have lots of outdoor space and two barns.
“We’ve renovated every room and we’re going to install a new kitchen in January.”
A roaring fire and total seclusion in a remote glen sounds like a recipe for festive cheer. Debbie and Dave are looking forward to their first Christmas at Easter Shian.
“We usually go away over the festive period so it’s going to be nice to host our family,” she says.
“We have four big trees that are over six foot and lots of smaller trees all over the place.
“They’re all living trees and in the New Year we’re going to plant them outside. They’ll have a plaque so we’ll always remember our first Christmas here.”
Christmas winners
Debbie says she and Dave were over the moon when they found out Easter Shian is Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year.
“We were just delighted,” she says. “Our style is quite different so we weren’t sure how it would go down with the judges.
“They were all so lovely. Banjo was really complimentary. Anna is just beautiful. And Michael had a wee cry in our living room, which was so lovely.
“They gave nothing but good feedback about the house. It’s such a positive show and we just love watching it.
“We had friends, family and the local community round for a watch party when the show was broadcast. It went on until around 1.30am.
“Now we’re looking forward to having a wonderful Christmas and New Year in the house.”
Glenrothes
Another home featured on the show is Coul House in Glenrothes. It dates from 1875 and has seen one of Scotland’s new towns spring up around it.
Clare Ansell, 40, and her husband Dean, 46, live there with their 11-year old son Fraser and three spaniels, Missy, Mucker and Beau.
They bought the house in 2019 and have spent the past few years renovating it. “The house predates the road that it’s on,” Clare explains.
“When the street, Maree Way, was built our house was the site office.
“The house suffered a bad fire many years ago and the previous owners renovated it.
“They were a little older than us so we’ve remodelled it to our tastes.”
Decorating the three-storey, five-bedroom B-listed villa for Christmas is a major undertaking. There are trees everywhere, inside and outside the home.
Six-foot tall guards welcome visitors to the property.
Meanwhile, Clare has amassed a collection of vintage baubles, nutcrackers and other decorations.
First to decorate
“We’re always the first house on the street to have our Christmas decorations up, much to Dean’s disgust,” Clare smiles.
“I put them up as soon as you’re really allowed to, usually around the end of November.
“I like to have them down again before New Year so it’s good to get them up early.
“We used to live in a new build and we were never as fussed about decorations then.
“This house really lends itself to Christmas though.
“We love having family over and it’s a great place for Fraser to be with his friends.”
The only question is where on earth all those decorations get stored for the rest of the year. Clare laughs: “They’re everywhere. The garage and attic are full and they’re stuffed into every nook and cranny.
“It doesn’t help that we do the same for Halloweeen…”
Bridge of Allan
Coneypark House is a former coach house in the heart of Bridge of Allan. Originally built in the 1860s it has recently been remodelled by Kim and Ivan Clingan.
The coach house belonged to a much larger Georgian home the couple lived in for 13 years with their daughters Rebecca and Hannah.
“When our daughters grew up it felt like time to downsize,” Kim explains.
“We looked around but couldn’t find anywhere that matched the location we already had. So we thought, why not stay where we are and convert the coach house?”
Kim, 56, and Ivan, 58, have transformed the coach house along with a garage and stable block into a fabulous home for themselves.
“We were able to knock lots of small rooms into several bigger rooms,” Kim continues. “And we added a living/dining room at the back using reclaimed stone to match the existing building.”
Coneypark House is not decorated in a typical Christmas style. You won’t see any gaudy tinsel or incessantly flashing lights.
Instead, the decorations are much more naturalistic.
Natural decorations
“Tinsel really doesn’t appeal to me,” Kim continues. “I like decorations that are calming and sustainable.
“Most of our decorations are free as well. I make them out of dried seed heads that come from our garden or are foraged from hedgerows.”
“We have baubles that are handblown by a local glassmaker.
“There’s also a sprinkling of fairy lights inside and outside the house.
“Scotland has so much darkness at this time of year and the lights make the house feel just a little bit magical.”
The only room in the house where things are a little more vibrant belongs to the couple’s younger daughter Hannah.
The 22-year old is severely brain damaged and lives in residential care during the week.
“In most of the house the lighting is very calming to help prevent Hannah having seizures,” Kim explains.
“But sometimes if she’s in the right mood she gets a lot of pleasure from colour and light being beamed onto her bedroom ceiling.”
Kim and Ivan decided to enter Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year after spotting a Facebook advert for the show. Seeing their house on TV on Monday evening was extra special for the family.
Kim explains: “The show was broadcast on December 19, which is when both of our girls have their birthdays. Rebecca turned 25 and Hannah was 23.
“As part of the celebrations we gathered round the TV and watched the show.”
Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year is on BBC iPlayer
