This fabulous new-build has been designed to enhance the homeowners’ lives immeasurably
Constructed by property developer Javaid Iqbal, the five-bedroom Hilltop mansion in one of Hale’s most sought-after streets just screams easy living. Inspired by the luxury homes Javaid visited in the famous Long Island Hamptons when living in the USA, it is a coming together of all his property dreams.
‘I lived in America for some time as a teenager and spent a lot of time in homes just like this. It was always my dream to build a version here in the UK, a true New England coastal house, designed for UK living. It’s taken me 30 years, but I have finally accomplished my dream.’
You can hear the love and passion Javaid has poured into this home as he speaks; there’s not an inch he hasn’t considered, choosing the most high-end of fixtures and fittings, from the door hinges to the kitchen appliances, to ensure its residents experience luxury living in every aspect.’
‘I have built a lot of homes for high-net worth individuals, so I know what the expectations are, but I also know that people really want, and need, comfort and ease and for there to be no complications in their home after a stressful day at work.
‘The property I bought was a 1970s dormer bungalow, which we essentially dismantled to the foundations, adding an extension to the footprint and building to exacting specifications. As the front of the house is southwest facing, this is where the sun sits all day, so I moved the main entrance to the rear and created a new road entrance there with a secluded courtyard, for ultimate privacy. The front is wholly hidden from the road, too, by a mix of mature and new planting.’
The house is given it’s very New England feel by the shingle-style roof tiles, and the unusual (for the UK) mansard roof, which provides protection from the elements, shades the interior in the summer and delivers a deceptively low-slung feel to the house, which on the inside has expansive rooms and high ceilings, delivering the light and airy feel Hamptons homes are famous for.
And it’s on the inside you can really see where Javaid has let his passion rule. Each room has a bespoke panelled ceiling, neatly avoiding the risk of a uniform, bland experience as you walk from room to room, both upstairs and down. Ground floor rooms have bespoke panelling with French doors opening to the grounds and are filled with light. The two kitchens are works of art, one fully open plan to a living-dining area, the other hidden away, keeping the mess of prep and heat and steam of cooking away from guests.
’I’ve really gone to town in this one,’ Javaid says. ‘The phrase “no expense spared” is certainly accurate here. There’s solid hardwood flooring throughout the ground floor, I chose the very best fittings for doorways, sockets, the kitchens and bathrooms and had the lighting all imported from the USA. I’ve even fitted a proper Hamptons-style staircase, which cost a fortune, but I had to have it.
‘It’s close to 7,000-square feet of living space but across two floors, which is very rare in properties of this nature. I have seen a lot of properties with this amount of space, and built them too, where it is across four floors. I wanted this house to have flow, to be light and airy and easy to move around in. It’s the perfect family house, even the cinema room has been designed to be family-friendly, to convert from a bright and light living room to a cinema room, with a Dolby Atmos sound system and a daylight projector.’
Security is of utmost importance to high-net-worth homeowners, and Javaid has had a bespoke alarm system built that not only offers the ultimate reassurance, but is utterly discreet, too. Indeed, discretion has been a driver in many of his decisions.
‘Externally, this house is understated; it doesn’t shout “look at me,” and it is very discreet. With two entrances, the owners can use the rear to access the hidden courtyard and garage and not be seen at all. Inside, it’s still understated, nothing flashy or extravagant but everything is the height of luxury.
‘You really need to visit the house to truly understand my vision, how the flow and the feel of it will actually work for those living here, to understand it’s as much about the feeling it gives you as the way it enhances your day-to-day life.
‘I have been a property developer for almost three decades and this is the one I always dreamed of building.’
For sale for £3.995m, from Gascoigne Halman, Hale. gascoignehalman.co.uk
