Homegrown Hoose in Mortonhall, Edinburgh, has been crowned winner of Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026
The Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026 judges — interior designers Anna Campbell-Jones and Banjo Beale and architect Danny Campbell — crowned Homegrown Hoose, a mid-century bungalow conversion with sustainability at its heart, the winner of SHOTY 2026 from a shortlist of six finalists found across Scotland.
Home to Emily and Robert Hairstans, their children Jackson and Ada and the family’s chickens, Homegrown Hoose has been modernised extensively throughout the 15 years the family have lived there. Despite hating the house when she first viewed it, horticulturalist Emily shared a vision with her husband Robert, a professor of timber engineering, to create the perfect family home, heavily influenced by structural timber technologies.
Emily is thrilled Homegrown Hoose won the coveted title, saying, “It’s such an honour to win SHOTY 2026 — 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.”
Robert adds: “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.”
For the Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026 winners, who have hidden their SHOTY 2026 winner’s trophy in a drawer until now, being named Scotland’s Home of the Year is recognition for lots of hard work over the years. “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,” reflects Emily.
“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.”
Words from the SHOTY 2026 judges
The couple’s distinctive abode scored universal praise from all three SHOTY 2026 judges. For Banjo and Anna, the open plan kitchen was a scene stealer. Here’s what the judges for Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026 had to say.
Anna Campbell Jones: “Homegrown Hoose typified the concept that home is an evolution, that it grows and changes as a family needs it to. This was expressed so clearly, physically in the home and each addition or alteration reflected what the homeowner’s preoccupations were at each point. The common thread was innovative, playful sustainability, surely an inspiration to anyone seeking to create a home that metaphorically and literally treads lightly on the earth.”
Banjo Beale agrees: “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.”
Danny Campbell adds: “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.”
The full series of Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026 is available to view now on BBC iPlayer.
The ninth series of SHOTY is currently underway and will air in 2027. Keep your eyes peeled for updates.
Want to see inside one of the grand properties from SHOTY 2026? Read about Guy and Lynne’s Arts & Crafts villa below.
Scotland’s Home of the Year 2026: Guy and Lynne’s Arts & Crafts villa in Edinburgh
