Home of the Year


Home of the Year is an Irish property reality television series which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 2015. The programme is based on the format of the Norwegian series Årets Hjem, originally created by Nordisk Film TV Denmark and distributed by Banijay.

Format

The format of the series follows three judges visiting three different homes every week and each scoring them out of ten. At the end of each episode the house which has scored the most points advances to the final. After seven weeks, the seven winning houses are judged one last time with the overall winner announced at the end of the episode.

Judges

Architect Hugh Wallace is the only judge who has appeared in every single season of the show. Season one saw Wallace joined by architect Declan O'Donnell and textiles and homeware designer Helen James. Season two and three saw Wallace and O'Donnell return for a second and third year in a row. Interior designer Deirdre Whelan replaced James as a judge. Season four saw Wallace and Whelan return for another series, O'Donnell left the show and was replaced by architect Patrick Bradley. Season five and six had Wallace and Whelan judge once again, however, architect Peter Crowley joined the panel. In season seven Wallace was the only judge to return. He was joined by interior designer Suzie McAdam and architect Amanda Bone. In 2022, Wallace and Bone returned for their eighth and second series, respectively, joined by a new judge, interior designer Sara Cosgrove. All three judges returned for another series the following year.

''Celebrity Home of the Year''

Since 2016 three one-off celebrity specials of the show have aired on RTÉ One with five celebrities taking part in each episode. As with the main series, each house was scored out of thirty. The homeowner with the highest score at the end of the episode was awarded €5,000 for a charity of their choice.

2016

The episode was broadcast on 28 December 2016.
Judges scores in the charts below are listed in this order from left to right: Hugh Wallace, Deirdre Whelan, Declan O'Donnell.
HomeownerScoreResult
Terry Prone25 =3rd place
Helen Cody26 2nd place
Darren Kennedy25 =3rd place
Norah Casey27 Winner
Brent Pope23 5th place

2018

The episode was broadcast on 2 January 2018.
Judges scores in the charts below are listed in this order from left to right: Hugh Wallace, Deirdre Whelan, Patrick Bradley.
HomeownerScoreResult
Melissa Hill24 3rd place
David Norris27 Winner
Eoghan McDermott22 =4th place
Mike Ross22 =4th place
Lorraine Keane25 2nd place

2019

The episode was broadcast on 2 January 2019.
Judges scores in the charts below are listed in this order from left to right: Hugh Wallace, Deirdre Whelan, Peter Crowley.
HomeownerScoreResult
Robert Ballagh26 2nd place
Eleanor McEvoy22 5th place
John Boyne27 Winner
Jean Byrne25 =3rd place
Ramona Nicholas25 =3rd place