Home of the Year winner says renovating house was 'like childbirth'

The owner of Scotland's Home of the Year 2026 (SHOTY) says the renovation of her winning property felt like childbirth.

The renovation of Homegrown Hoose, a mid-century bungalow in Mortonhall, Edinburgh, has taken Robert and Emily Hairstans 15 years.

Home to Emily and husband Robert, their children Jackson and Ada and the family's chickens, Homegrown Hoose has been modernised extensively.

After being revealed as this season's winners, Emily admits: "It's been a ride. I mean, it's been a very, very extended process, but it's been really good fun. It's a bit like childbirth. You look back and it's a lot easier if you're looking back on it."

The SHOTY judges – interior designers Anna Campbell-Jones and Banjo Beale and architect Danny Campbell - crowned Homegrown Hoose the winner from a shortlist of six finalists found across Scotland.

Despite hating the house when she first viewed it, Horticulturalist Emily shared a vision with Robert, a Professor of Timber Engineering, to create the perfect family home, heavily influenced by structural timber technologies.

She said: "We have lived here for a number of years and the house has evolved with us. The slow, organic nature of the design process I think makes us unique."

"That, and obviously the offsite methods of timber construction of course. It is homely because it's just us and the things that mean something to us."

Robert added: "I don't think what we have done will ever be replicated. It's a collage of our life of 15 years on display. Homegrown Hoose brings together upcycled furniture, horticulture and advanced timber technologies and blends it together with what we needed from the house as a growing family."

The distinctive house scored universal praise from all three SHOTY judges. For Banjo and Anna, the open plan kitchen was a scene stealer. Banjo said: "Hands down it was my favourite part of Homegrown Hoose – a place where mud, meals, and magic all collide in the most beautiful, modern and unexpected way."

Anna added: "The kitchen – which is lower than the rest of the space created – just the right amount of separation, creating a child height breakfast bar. The open design of the storage and robust materials combined with direct access to the garden for ingredients would make it the perfect place to spend all day cooking up a family feast."

For Danny Campbell, the woodwork throughout had the "wow" factor: "The use of timber was extraordinary, this was not a gimmick, it's a deliberate and well thought out approach to extending a home that I had never seen before to this level. The three unique extensions harmonising together against the original home and hard-working back garden was fantastic."

Emily has been a fan of the hit BBC Scotland programme since it started.

"From series one, we all love that kind of thing," she said. "We've sort of trained the kids to love those kinds of shows too."

The family had the show in mind all through their renovations which saw the interior ripped out and reimagined, switching rooms from the front to the back of the house.

Emily said: "We had been wanting to enter the house for years. We knew that the kind of the combination of the timber technologies, Robert's research and the colours and the charity shop furniture.

"All that kind of stuff made a unique kind of quirky, different household environment. And those were always our favourite homes to see on Scotland's Home of the Year.

"So it was always the plan whenever we'd finished. Once we did the kitchen extension, then everything got repainted, everything got a bit of an upgrade. And then we went, right, that's us, we're ready."

The house has been a labour of love for the family and it wasn't always pleasant.

Emily said: "When we bought it, this house, we called it the Sit Ooterie because it was probably more akin to sitting outside than sitting inside.

"Every day you'd come in and there would be slugs that would come in through the door and they'd be on the walls. And it sort of swayed in the wind. So we've added so many bits. And every change has been done very slowly and very deliberately."

Judge Anna Campbell Jones believes Homegrown Hoose is a very worthy winner of the prestigious title: "It typified the concept that home is an evolution, that it grows and changes as a family needs it to."

Banjo Beale agreed: "It wasn't just designed, it was lived into existence, every inch rooted in purpose, place, and a bit of graft. I thought it was a lovely blueprint for a modern family home. It felt like the house grew straight out of the soil itself, a rare blend of soul and sustainable style."

And Danny Campbell added: "There was an original approach to a rudimentary house type that doesn't just make it perfect for the family that lives there but encourages others to push the envelope and challenge what design can create at home."

In the finals, the six finalists came face-to-face, meeting the judges for the first time as well as getting a chance to cast their eyes over each other's homes.

Homeowner Emily is thrilled Homegrown Hoose won the coveted title: "It's such an honour to win - it's been a rollercoaster experience taking part in the series and hugely exciting. Our home just evolved into what it is, we didn't start out with something like this planned. All of the lovely comments the judges said about our home really resonated with us and we're so thrilled."

The forthcoming ninth series of SHOTY is currently filming around Scotland, airing in 2027.