SNP and Business for Scotland figure Ian Forrester was quite happy to let the BBC film his home, Saltire House in Aviemore, for its Scotland’s Home of the Year show.
Ian and his partner Myra hoped that their beautiful three-storey home, partly inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, would take a trick with the three judges, interior designer Anna Campbell-Jones, architect Michael Angus and blogger Kate Spiers.
The sun shone when the programme was filmed last August – and surely the producers and judges could not fail to have been impressed with Saltire House’s magnificent windows and views over to the Cairngorms.
Somehow, the camera crew managed to leave out the large Yes sign behind the front door, and nor did they feature the many pictures, including some of Ian and Myra with some very senior SNP figures.
But while the judges praised Saltire House, they did not give it top marks, as it turned out, with one judged suggesting there was a confusion of styles. “I felt they didn’t quite get it,” said Ian. “We were not trying to be a ‘Mockintosh’ house but did want to have features inspired by him, and the upstairs and rear of the house looking over the gardens to the river were all our own ideas working with our architects.”
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Ian and Myra only found out when the show was aired that they had come third out of three in the Highlands episode, and not a few people were unimpressed with that result.
But what was that on full view in the house that pipped Saltire House to gain second place? In the centre of Mansion Apartment in a basement on the Beauly Firth was a recliner – complete with a large Union Jack cushion.
“We all began to smell a rat when we saw that” said a friend of Ian and Myra.
“It was a bit too obvious, even for the BBC.
“They know Ian and Myra’s dedication to the cause of independence. And Saltire House with its Yes sign gets marked down but the apartment with the Union Jack gets scored higher?”
Some friends took to Facebook. James McVean noted: “What an excellent home you have. Notice they meticulously avoided giving a full shot of your big Yes.”
Jacquie Blair wrote: “They also homed in and kept going back to a Union Jack bag conveniently hung over the back of a chair in another home.”
Alan Finlayson commented: “That had to be political Ian. Your house was the best by far.”
Forrester told The Jouker he should have known better than to get involved with the BBC, but has taken the defeat in good heart.
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