The Borders Waves goodbye to the title

Stephen and Alison, the owners of the Wave, a distinctive newbuild near Peebles, which failed to make it into the final.

The show, which gives viewers an inside (and outside) look at some of the country’s most innovative houses, centred on the south of Scotland in the first episode of the new series on Wednesday evening, titled “Borders”.

However, only one of the homes on the shortlist was actually located in the Scottish Borders.

Judges Anna Campbell Jones, Michael Angus and Kate Spiers were at first impressed by the distinctive newbuild near Peebles, called the Wave, nestled between the Tweed and Manor valleys.

Owners Stephen and Allison were on the show, explaining the home’s interesting design.

Allison said: “We wanted a lot of glass; we wanted it to be light and make full use of the views. And we had the idea that we wanted the roof to look like the hills in the Borders.”

Stephen added: “You couldn’t have built it 15 to 20 years ago because you needed a computer system to get the geometry right.”

The couple said that one of their favourite aspects was lifting the blinds while having a coffee in bed, with the landscape opening up around them, floor to ceiling.

Let loose in the home, the judges were at first impressed with the look of the four-bedroom home.

Kate said: “Instead of looking like the houses around it, it takes its inspiration from the hills.”

The judges liked the fact that the floorboards were at 45 degrees, but the decor didn’t impress, with Kate saying: “It’s a bit impersonal, as the home doesn’t give much away about the people who live in it.”

And Anna said: “The interior really needs to step up to match the bold exterior.”

It was marked 23 out of 30 by the judges.

The judges also looked at a town hall conversion near Biggar, which was marked 24, but were completely blown away by a “bikers’ paradise” home in Castle Douglas, which went straight through to the final, scoring 29.

Its black decor, and the fact that the owners made a feature of storing their motorbikes indoors, were considered bold choices by the judges, but they were impressed that the own ers were express ing themselves.