Co Limerick upside down 1970s ‘Brady Bunch’ family home bags coveted RTÉ Home of the Year 2025 award.
In this article we cover:
- Who won the award with house images
- Who the finalists were with house images
Amy and Eoin Martin have been crowned the winners of RTÉ’s Home of the Year 2025. The couple took the top spot in the series final with their bold and beautifully renovated 1970s Limerick home.
Falling in love with the character of the upside down house —where the main living spaces are on the first floor to make the most of the garden views and natural light — Amy and Eoin took on a complete transformation of the property.
Brady Bunch house
Speaking on the 2025 win, judge Hugh Wallace said: “I love the 70s and this home was like Brady Bunch; amazing colours and connection with a stunning garden. Brilliant winner.”
Newly appointed judge Siobhan Lam echoed Hugh’s comments, saying: “This home radiates joy and it’s a perfect representation of the homeowners, you could see their love and dedication to this home everywhere. From the warm, vibrant colour palette to the delicious retro details throughout – this home ticked all the boxes.”
As well as decorating each room to suit their tastes, the couple managed to gut and renovate the house, bringing it from a D3 BER rating to an A3.
“It still had a lot of its original features,” Eoin says, thinking back to when they first bought their forever home following years of renting and a 14-year stint living abroad in Australia.
“They [the previous owners] had maintained the house but they hadn’t really changed the structure of it that much so it really felt like stepping back into our childhoods. It kind of became a bit of an inspiration after that.”
“And I’m just drawn to the colours that I’m drawn to,” adds Amy. “We would have agonised over wall colours and furniture – we always do the big stuff together and then he lets me go a bit wild with certain things.”
As well as decorating each room to suit their tastes, the couple managed to gut and renovate the house, bringing it from a D3 BER rating to an A3.
“It still had a lot of its original features,” Eoin says, thinking back to when they first bought their forever home following years of renting and a 14-year stint living abroad in Australia.
“They [the previous owners] had maintained the house but they hadn’t really changed the structure of it that much so it really felt like stepping back into our childhoods. It kind of became a bit of an inspiration after that.”
Colour wild
“And I’m just drawn to the colours that I’m drawn to,” adds Amy. “We would have agonised over wall colours and furniture – we always do the big stuff together and then he lets me go a bit wild with certain things.”
Amy, a former nurse turned interior designer, has been a long-time fan of the show and decided to bite the bullet to send in her application following a run-in with Hugh Wallace at the Ideal Home Show.
“He gave me the confidence to go for it,” she says. “When we got back on the train, I just said, ‘We’re doing it.’”
Watching the judges walk through her home was a surreal experience. “To hear them comment on the little details I worked so hard on was just fantastic.”
Judge Amanda Bone noted the level of competition in this year’s final: “Series 11 was a pleasure to be part of. Among the five series I’ve been involved in, it stood out for having the most competitive, emotionally charged, and challenging final to judge. That intensity was a testament to the standard of homes showcased this year.”
Reflecting on their winning style, Amy and Eoin said that each room of the house is filled with personality, whether it be posters from their holidays framed as artwork or Amy’s handiwork with reupholstered cushions.
“It’s almost like I’ve waited my whole life to have a house to do from top to bottom and think about every single little bit,” says Amy.
Retro colour palettes filled with oranges, yellows and teals are favoured by the couple, who insist that having colour is “a lot more fun” than sticking to neutrals.
With two teenagers, three cats and a dog, the two admit that the house doesn’t always look quite so camera-ready but that clever storage hacks and DIY decor have been their saving grace in day-to-day life.
DIY hack
Additionally, she says that each family member was given a role in decorating the home so that it felt special to all of them.
“We gave the boys a lot of their own input into their own rooms,” says Eoin, who explains that the teenagers have had their own preferences over the years.
Painting their walls black, Amy helped merge these bedrooms with the rest of the house with simple embellishments, spray painting old frames and creating a gallery wall for the boys’ various posters, pictures and knick-knacks.
The simple DIY hack helped to elevate the rooms, keeping the decor personal but put together.
“The amount of Lego in this house is insane,” she adds, “but just trying to keep it to their rooms and having good storage – I’m obsessed with storage – and good shelving.”
Shelving has also helped with the family’s collection of pets, helping to keep litter boxes, leads and pet food in check.
Amy, a Cork native, says the experience of being on the show has brought her neighbours together, with plenty of community pride running through the cul-de-sac as interiors fans drive by for a peek at the winning house
“We’re part of a neighbourhood WhatsApp group and the residents – some who have been here since the 70s – are saying ‘for a Cork woman to be talking so nicely about Limerick, we’re delighted and so proud and thanks so much’. It’s fantastic. Very nice well-wishers everywhere.”
The other six Home of the Year 2025 finalists were:
Claire and Seán Fox, Tipperary
Claire and Seán live in Tipperary in a former shop which they have turned into a home. Originally built in the 1860s, the couple bought the home in 2020, getting stuck into renovations the following year and creating a layout which suited them.
They kept as much as possible from the old building, repurposing dressers, wardrobes and the original spindles from the shop. Claire worked with her dad, a retired engineer, to adapt a lot of the furniture, including making a backsplash from the copper water cylinder and turning a bunkbed into kitchen cabinets.
The couple love how comfortable they feel in the home and are proud of the effort they put into every part of it.
Lynne Clarke and Nick Drew, Wicklow
Lynne and Nick live in Wicklow with their young daughter and dog. Their home, built in 1862, was formerly a nursing home which had been left vacant for nearly a decade. The couple bought the house in 2022 and with it, took on a massive project.
Over the next two years an extensive renovation took place where they demolished the entire rear, built an extension, and replaced all windows with appropriate period style sash windows while retaining any original features they could.
The family also worked hard to bring the entire house up to a BER A3 rating.
Jenny Anne Corkery, Dublin
Jenny Anne lives in this contemporary new build in Dublin with her husband and two children.
Passionate about wanting to build her own A-Rated home, Jenny Anne jumped at the new build. The design makes use of a site previously containing a derelict garage structure to the rear of an existing property, subdividing a single plot into two dwellings.
Their home is a clever take on city living — a two-bedroom infill on a tight site that still manages to feel spacious and comfortable.
The family love the clever design and how it allows for every corner of the dwelling to be used efficiently and practically.
Roisin Collins and Matteo Bandiera, Dublin
Roisin and Matteo live with their two sons in Dublin. The couple bought their 1930s home in 2020 and began refurbishments, tackling it in stages over the next few years and turning it into their dream family home.
They were a great team as Roisin, an architect, designed the renovations while Matteo is handy at DIY.
They worked hard to redesign the layout and maximise space and got interior influence from their mid-century furniture and the Scandinavian design style with their focus being on clean lines and the use of natural materials and textures to add warmth.
The family love the fact that their home makes them happy every time they come in the front door and that it has allowed them to be creative.
Mary Phelan and Aiden Fitzpatrick, Dublin
Mary and Aiden live in this period home in Dublin. The couple bought the house in 2005 and took on major renovations, doing most of the work themselves over a four-year period.
Mary says she brings the creative ideas which Aiden turns into reality.
The couple always aspired to own and renovate an old house, and while this was a huge labour of love, 20 years on they still love everything about their home and what they’ve achieved.
Vivian Wong McKendry and Philip McKendry, Kildare
Vivian and Philip live in Co Kildare with their three dogs. During the height of the Covid pandemic, the couple moved into an empty shell of a house – no kitchen, no flooring, not even a functional bathroom.
After eight long months their redesign began, with the two having worked hard on design plans and the layout, completely changing the internal function of the house.
Vivian and Philip went for a contemporary mid-century style, creating a cohesive yet visually stimulating theme throughout the house. Although the build was time-consuming for the couple, it was all worth it, as they created the show stopping home they had always envisioned.
