This is RTÉ’s Home of the Year

The Home of the Year winners wowed the judges with a 150-year-old farmhouse and modern extension

RTÉ’s Home of the Year finale aired tonight, and with their renovated farmhouse in Wicklow, Kate and Shane Byrne were this year’s winners. The eighth series saw the three judges Hugh Wallace, Amanda Bone and Sara Cosgrove visit 21 homes across the country but ultimately, it was the Byrne house that caught their eyes. The property has been in Shane’s family for decades but when they moved in, in 2018, they knocked through all the smaller rooms and added an extension to create an open plan living space with lots of natural light.

The judges were impressed by the feel of the home, all at once serene yet vibrant, cosy yet modern. They found it to be spacious, light, and at the ideal intersection of old and new. Hugh Wallace was particularly enamoured with the qualities that made this country house a home: “once you went through that door you could just feel the heartbeat of this spectacular home. There’s the intangible which is so important – that feeling when you walk around the home: of the family, the fun, the history, the memories that are in that home – that’s what makes a home for me.”

Winning words

Winners Kate and Shane said, “We are just so over the moon and blown away by the reaction to our home. For our farmhouse to make the final, never mind win is just so incredibly flattering. It is not something thing we could have ever imagined happening. Our house is a part of our family’s history and is truly a home, not just a house. For the judges to see and recognise that is amazing. For us a home is not about the size of your floor plan or budget, instead what’s important for our family is the feeling the house gives you and those that visit it. The other houses in the competition were beautiful and it’s such an honour to have featured alongside them. Just being part of the competition is such a great experience and one I would highly recommend.”

The other six finalists were:

• Tony and Imogen McManus – new build in Kerry
• Michelle and Rob McNeil – a renovated 1920s house in Belfast
• Aoife and Gareth Tolerton – a modernist upside down new build in Down
• Martin and Saoirse O’ Dwyer – a renovated 1870s cottage with barrel roof extension in Sligo
• Sarah Duggan and Ian McNamee – a renovated red brick property in Dublin
• Sinead Murphy – a stylish city home with protected façade in Cork

Home of the Year is proudly sponsored by AIB. You can catch up with all the episodes of series eight and earlier series of Home of the Year on RTÉ Player rte.ie/player