A STUNNING riverside home owned by an Annan couple was the regional runner up on the Scottish Home of the Year show (SHOTY) this week.
The judges on the BBC TV programme raved about Kirtle Water Grange at Kirtlebridge, with one describing it as a ‘river ranch party palace’.
Owners John Pagani and Dan Palmer secured 26 marks out of 30 for their stylish property, just losing out to Honeysuckle Cottage in Moffat, which will go on to represent the south area in the grand final.
Discussing their experience on the show, John said: “We decided to apply after I fell in love with the show and binged it. I felt an affinity with the programme and wondered how our house would play out.
“Our house is not perfect, the majority of interior is second hand, upcycled — that seems to be important to SHOTY and it’s important to us.
“We also wanted to show them what we have got in this area. Dumfries and Galloway is a huge area and Dumfries onwards gets lots of publicity but Annan and the villages around it don’t and we wanted to show our area off. “
Dan explained how the house, built in 2004, reflects them, saying: “We put in a lot of our own personality as a couple – the house and garden it reflects us.
“We’ve done a lot of the work ourselves, we find pieces second hand and do them up.
“We have solar panels and wood heating and are off grid at night and zero carbon. That’s been important from the beginning as you cannot be in a beautiful situation with wildlife and do something that’s making the environment worse.”
The pair love to entertain and said: “For us, sharing it is important. It’s been able to provide a space for family and friends to come over and relax.”
And they’ve done that both indoors and outdoors, with a balcony and verandah looking onto an immaculate garden.
Dan said: “On the balcony the sunrise is unbelievable. In the kitchen we see wildlife during the day, we’ve got otters, red squirrels, kingfishers, foxes and badgers. At night it’s the verandah, all the lights are magical, even on a rainy day.
“Home is a sanctuary. When we go on holiday we cannot wait to get home. We have created such a magical space. The fact we are in the area we are makes a lot of difference.”
Quirky touches also personalise their space, like flying saucer ornaments made by John, a 3D giraffe and a pink wall in the kitchen.
“Kitchens are often quite practical but we wanted it to be fun. John is in it a lot and it’s got to be sociable and still part of it,” Dan said.
John added: “We are always thinking ‘what next?’ and always looking out for things. We enjoy doing it for us, we’re not looking to inspire others.
“We have committed so much of ourselves in building too many memories. It’s our forever home 100 per cent, definitely.”
