The ninth season of Home of the Year will champion creativity and showcase clever design and individuality, leaving judges Hugh Wallace, Amanda Bone, and Sara Cosgrove to make the tough calls in order to crown one overall winner.
The series will feature homes located all over Ireland and will include re-imagined semi-detached homes, renovation projects, architectural homes, restored period homes, and new builds.
Every Tuesday for the next eight weeks, the trio will explore 21 outstanding homes from across the country, featuring a beautiful variety of homes from Cork, Mayo, Kilkenny, Dublin, Down, Wicklow, Meath, Antrim, Galway, Armagh, Derry, and Kildare.
On tonight's episode, viewers were introduced to three astounding homes:
Ciara McMahon and Richie Hannify
Ciara McMahon and Richie Hannify live in a modern mid-century home in Dublin along with their golden retriever, Stella.
When the couple bought the property in 2020 it was in great need of modernization, so they fully gutted the house and knocked down the garage so they could extend to the side and rear.
As the house is mid-century, they wanted to reflect this in their styling. They went for a relaxed colour palette, simple furniture and natural materials. The couple think their home is a great combination of both their tastes and love that they were involved in every aspect of the project from day one.
The day after they moved in the couple got married and held their wedding reception in the property, cementing this house as a home from the very start.
Gael and Kelda Jauvert
Gael and Kelda Jauvert live in a barn structure in Co. Meath
The couple bought the land with outbuildings in the spring of 2019. On the site was a three-bay shed which they had hoped to renovate.
Unfortunately, the structure of the building was in too poor a condition to save and so they decided to build their new home in the same shape and footprint of the former building. They also reproduced its exposed metal frame, block walls with grey cement render and red roof and cladding, ensuring that the house fit in with the surroundings perfectly.
Gael and Kelda approached this home with a minimalist and up-cycling spirit. For example, they built the kitchen, shelves, bar and countertops all from mostly left-over building materials, scaffolding planks and pallets.
The couple have embraced a very industrial, simple and minimalist feel throughout the home and love the sense of loft living they've created in the countryside.
Niall McGuire
Niall McGuire lives in a new build thatched cottage in County Armagh.
Niall bought the land six years ago and wanted to build a new home in a traditional style but with a modern take.
Niall has worked with tradespeople and done as much work on the home as he can himself, by plastering the outside, helping with the roof, putting down floors and doing the wiring. He has also had a lot of help from friends and family along the way.
Niall loves older-style houses and the character they have and wanted to create the appearance of a home that had been extended over the years and keep true to Irish vernacular architecture in its exterior and layout.
Click through our gallery of photos at the top of the page to see more of these homes. Catch up on HOTY on RTÉ Player.
