One of the most expensive new homes ever to be built with one of the prettiest views is for sale - and guess what, there are two more. Property editor Caroline Culot went 'over the border' from Norfolk into Suffolk to take a look at Harbour View where the three new homes for three multi-millionaires are up for sale.
Imagine one of the most picturesque locations possible and then dream up three new houses there with features you adore from period homes yet the biggest and best in terms of luxury too. That's Harbour View, Walberswick, for sale with Savills New Homes. If you liken Walberswick to the crown jewels, you understand how building three new homes there is rather like tampering with its rubies and diamonds; one wrong move and you've ruined something so special. So, these new homes had to be extraordinary in build quality, reflecting local architecture and demonstrating craftsmanship of the highest order while offering something entirely new. Each home had to be completely different and offer the buyer unrivalled luxury that the price tags command. So how is this possible?
I met the developer, Simon Rockall, of building company Heniam Ltd, whose grandparents come from Southwold, and who was lucky enough to find this fantastic plot with panoramic views right across the harbour towards Southwold where your eye can go from left to right taking in all the picturesque landmarks - try spotting the lighthouse, for example.
Three houses are for sale - all named after sea birds and inspired by the bungalows originally on the plot. Whimbrels, offering 2895 sqft of accommodation with a garage of 451 sqft is for sale for £1.6 million and Mirna, which was still under construction when I visited, is for sale for £1.75 million.
But, like all good property editors, I am going to focus on the biggest and in my opinion, the best: Mallards which offers an unashamed 4873 sqft of luxury accommodation, with five bedrooms over three floors, for sale for a guide price of £2.25 million.
This is the house that's in your face it's so novel - I loved certain very special features such as its 'secret' door in the kitchen; push it open and it leads to a massive utility and boot room area which in turn leads right round to a staircase and a guest suite above. There is a shower room and the most stunning hand-made cloakroom area with a beautiful row of pegs and storage beneath oak seating and this leads further into a stunning wine room, my favourite feature. Boasting the most beautiful units painted in Farrow & Ball's Mahogany, not only is there room for 89 bottles of wine, including a chilled unit for the white with three separate conditioning zones, but it also has a champagne 'trough,' a basin designed to be filled with ice for those special bottles. Another fantastic feature of this house is the room on the top floor - from the master suite which has a fireplace, you go up a further set of stairs to the top floor and walk across an oak and glass walkway to a room with a window which gives you the best view of that panoramic coastline.
It's features like these which just make your heart beat a little bit faster, and set this house apart from others and I honestly applaud the workmanship that's gone into creating this house. The joinery, all done on site, is particularly noticeable - drawers slide out from units effortlessly like a knife through butter and it's such a joy to see. I had a really good walk around and honestly everything is finished so beautifully - right down to the last join in the back of a cupboard that no one will ever see, but which has been hand-made with a real effort and attention to detail, to the big ticket items like the contemporary staircases, fireplaces and the chimneys. Take a look at some of the chimneys of period houses in Walberswick and they'll look remarkably familiar - as Mr Rockall has aimed to incorporate architectural touches in his homes that reflect the local landscape.
For a start there was a time a new home never even had a chimney because it didn't need one - but Mallards boasts three beautifully made ones. Mr Rockall said his aim was to build houses to last. So everything has been done to exacting standards with hand-made pantiles and hand-cut bricks. Inside is hand-made plaster cornice yet you've got the added luxurious touches too - porcelain tiles in the bathrooms and en suites and the most fabulous volcanic stone oval bath tub.
Unusually, you've also got the prettiest English country garden, planted with lavender and many plants and flowers so that you really appreciate your outside space when you walk around the inside. Usually new homes have rather uninspiring gardens, sometimes which aren't even turfed, but rarely do you have the time and money spent on fully planting up an outside space like you have with Mallards. The paths have been hand-made in brick and you have different patios in different parts of the garden to catch both the morning and evening sun, all surrounded by a range of traditional fencing including Brampton willow, hand-crafted on site. Even the private drive is not just gravelled and certainly not asphalted but has been created using a resin bound with solid granite set edges - so it looks like a set, shiny gravel however it isn't dirty, dusty and doesn't come onto your garden nor gets traipsed into your hallway. This leads to the double garage - larch clad with an oak entrance frame and two remote controlled, wide timber garage doors, boasting 435 sqft. At its peak up to 70 workers were on this site at a time to get the house finished.
These are homes for millionaires, with everything for that luxury lifestyle but as we know, money doesn't always buy class. This time, however, it really does.
You can contact Savills New Homes on 01603 229229 for more information.
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