Borthwick couple open their doors for Scotland's Home of the Year BBC TV show

A retired couple from Borthwick recently opened their doors to the TV cameras in their bid to win the title of Scotland’s Home of the Year.

You can find out how the couple got on against two other homes in the Lothians heat of the popular TV show, when it airs on Monday, May 9.

Jean and David Short let the judges into Bellsmains, which they have called home for 40 years.

David said: “We have been watching the program since season one and enjoy taking inspiration from some of the beautiful homes. The judges are always very positive and highlight the best features so we felt confident that they would focus on those aspects of our home.

Jean & David Short, whose Bellsmanins home is set to feature in Scotland's Home of the Year.

“It felt quite exciting showing off our home which has been a long term project and a special place for us to welcome friends and family. We have lots of happy memories and we feel that Bellsmains has a very positive vibe.

“I would recommend people entering it as being a fun and interesting experience and has given us an insight on how TV programmes are made. We have not seen the programme yet and are eager to find out what the judges impressions are of our home.”

Speaking about the transformation of their home over the years, with three extensions built, David added: “We absolutely love our home and feel very privileged to have been able to shape it over the years.

"When we moved to Bellsmains it had one double and one single bedroom. There was a small kitchen from the living room, the remnants of an outside toilet and a downstairs bathroom. The house had no heating, we had to rewire, re-plumb re-roof and treat the dampness and woodworm.

The living area inside the latest extension.

“After all the essentials were done, we started our family and quickly realised that either the house had to grow with us or we would need to move. We loved the location so much that over the next couple of decades we extended twice to accommodate our growing family.

“As time went on and our family grew up and moved away and it looked like we probably needed a smaller home. Since then, however grandchildren have come along and we dismissed that idea since they often come back to stay at weekends.”

Speaking about the impressive most recent extension, David added: “Our latest extension and renovations were started in January 2020.

"Soon after the kitchen had been ripped out and the gable end of the house knocked down the pandemic struck and the end of the house which was balanced on pins had to be boxed in with board for several months until the builders were allowed back to work.

Bellsmains, Borthwick.

"We were fortunate enough to have family and friends who helped us out by handing in cooked food and we got very used to having carry outs and microwave dinners for six months until the new kitchen went in.

“The current configuration of the house is a more open plan layout than we had in the past and it makes the most of the views across our beautiful garden and allows the family to be together cooking, eating, working and playing. It was a lot of work to get to this stage but we feel that it has been well worth the wait.”