Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year 2021: A peak through the keyhole of this year’s winning property

A beautiful Georgian villa in Dumfries and Galloway dating back to 1829 has been crowned the winner of Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year in a festive special of the popular BBC Scotland show.
Corvisel House – a beautiful Georgian villa in Dumfries and Galloway dating back to 1829 – has been crowned the winner of Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year in a festive special. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC ScotlandCorvisel House – a beautiful Georgian villa in Dumfries and Galloway dating back to 1829 – has been crowned the winner of Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year in a festive special. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC Scotland
Corvisel House – a beautiful Georgian villa in Dumfries and Galloway dating back to 1829 – has been crowned the winner of Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year in a festive special. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC Scotland

In this one-off special, Corvisel House in Newton Stewart proved to be the pick of bunch, coming out on top over four other finalists.

Home to lawyer Anne Macdonald, her husband Jonny Lyons and their children Magnus and Murdo, the property wowed judges Anna Campbell-Jones, Kate Spiers and Michael Angus with its captivating and homely Christmas style.

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The property beat off four other Christmas contenders – ‘Ryseholm’ in Beith, North Ayrshire, ‘Clydeshore’ in Dumbarton, ‘Casa Christmas’ in Aberdeen and ‘The Light House’ in Glasgow.

Corvisel House, winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo Credit : BBC Scotland / Kirsty AndersonCorvisel House, winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo Credit : BBC Scotland / Kirsty Anderson
Corvisel House, winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo Credit : BBC Scotland / Kirsty Anderson

Mrs Macdonald said she was thrilled her home came out on top. “It feels magical,” she said. “It’s like the best Christmas present we could wish for and has brought lots of excitement to our lives.

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“It’s brought back the giddy Christmas excitement that we used to feel as a child, although it does all rather surreal and Jonny and I keep asking each other ‘did this really happen?’

Every room in Corvisel House has a touch of festive flair from the drawing room to the family room, a large reception hallway, kitchen, staircase, master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite, the children’s bedroom, family bathroom and the three guest rooms.

Corvisel House was named winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC ScotlandCorvisel House was named winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC Scotland
Corvisel House was named winner of Scotland's Christmas Home of The Year 2021. Photo credit: Kirsty Anderson/BBC Scotland
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For Mrs Macdonald, Christmas is a chance to decorate every room and transform Corvisel House into a winter wonderland, with tonnes of Scandanavian style, art deco themes and colourful creations for the children’s rooms.

As well as traditional Christmas decorations, she uses a mix of sustainable styles and natural produce from her walled garden and forest to create her own home-grown decorations.

She said: “We moved in on Christmas Eve 2017 and ever since that moment, Christmas at Corvisel has become ever more special to us.

“I love the Christmas feels following you all around our home, so the stairs, landing, bathroom and cloakroom all got sprinkled with foliage and baubles and put a massive smile on my face.

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“I’d say we are maximalists who love to bring in family treasures and trinkets to allow every room to tell a story.”

Judge and lifestyle blogger Kate Spiers says: “There was a lot of love in this home [Corvisel House]. It felt cheerful as soon as we walked in.

“This home just made me feel Christmassy. Each of the rooms downstairs were styled and decorated to perfection, but there was still this lovely, homely feel to the space.

“The decorations weren’t all traditional either. It was a genuine mix – the table setting with the safari animals and colourful flowers really stood out to me. It shows you don’t need to stick to the rules when it comes to decorating.

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“I loved the sitting room with the pink sofas and the Christmas tree that touched the ceiling.

“This mix of modern and vintage in here made it feel so magical, and not too formal for a living room – you could imagine getting comfy on the sofas with a mince pie and Christmas music on.”

The new ten-part fourth series of Scotland’s Home of the Year, made by IWC Media for BBC Scotland, will air in 2022.

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