A semi-detached house in Dundee that’s been cleverly modified for a disabled child features on Scotland’s Home of the Year.
Katie and Daniel Radtke own Our Adapted Home, a semi-detached new build house in Ballumbie.
Katie, 39, and Daniel, 48, bought the home in 2019 and moved in the following summer.
The house has been extensively modified for the couple’s 14-year-old disabled daughter Jessica. It has runners and hoists in the ceiling, an accessible wetroom, a profiling bed, and other equipment designed to make life easier for Jessica.
At the same time it is a bright and colourful modern family home.
“It was really important to us that our house not look clinical,” Katie says. “We wanted it to be homely and welcoming. I really like colour so I made sure there was a lot of vibrancy.
“Daniel isn’t as keen on bright colours so he has his man cave upstairs with his sofa and guitars.”
A lot of thought went into creating Our Adapted Home. “The important thing for us was to design a home that would see Jessica into adulthood,” Katie continues. “We met with physical therapists and occupational therapists to make sure the equipment we installed is futureproof.”
Designed for life
Our Adapted Home has a large open plan living area on the ground floor. Jessica’s bedroom, an adjoining wet room and her day room are also at ground level. On the first floor is an en suite bedroom and Daniel’s man cave.
Living in the new house has improved Jessica’s quality of life. “She’s able to be much more independent and comfortable in her own home,” Katie explains.
One of the factors behind Katie and Daniel’s decision to take part in Scotland’s Home of the Year was a desire to help other families with disabled children.
Katie explains: “We want people to watch the show and see that you can have a home that is adapted but is still a family home. When we were doing the work we had an Instagram page – our_adapted_home – so that people could see what we were doing.
“It turned out there was a really good community on Instagram for this sort of thing. We had a lot of questions and messages of support from other families in similar positions to ours.”
Episode nine of Scotland’s Home of the Year is broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Monday May 30 at 8.30pm. The winners from all nine regional episodes go into a grand final broadcast on Monday June 6 where Scotland’s Home of the Year will be crowned.
- Think your house has what it takes to become Scotland’s Home of the Year? The show’s producers are looking for the finest properties to feature in the fifth series of the programme. To apply visit: www.bbc.co.uk/shoty
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