Veteran developer Richard Barrett’s Bartra Capital is rapidly expanding in the capital and beyond, while Bartra Homes, its residential wing, has been flexing its house-building muscle with several high-end boutique schemes.
The firm has hired architects de Blacam and Meagher for its upcoming scheme on Morehampton Lane, where four high-end mews properties are under construction on the site of the home of the late businesswoman Gillian Bowler. The company paid €3.2 million for this site in 2017 and these properties are due to come to market later this year.
On Glenart Avenue, a quiet thoroughfare with a mix of housing stock off Blackrock’s Grove Avenue, Bartra paid €3.25 million last year for number 24, Kinvara, where the substantial garden caught the developer’s attention. Now it has built four redbrick-fronted, three-storey houses on the half acre site, retaining one and bringing the other three to market seeking in the region of €2.2million apiece.
The detached houses, designed by Cantrell & Crowley Architects are set on sizeable plots, stretching almost 11m across and have pedestrian rear access from both sides. The original granite boundary wall to the rear has been retained along with several specimen trees and the landscaped gardens already have a mature feel.
The homes have stone window, door surrounds and large-frame Nordan aluclad windows that stream light into the rooms. Windows on the gable, including a dramatic double height one almost 5m high illuminate the entrance hall.
With its washed-oak timber floors the proportions of the reception rooms are especially good with 2.9m ceiling heights giving it the same sense of scale as a period house. The rooms have not been staged for sale which, in the absence of furniture, will make it tricky for potential buyers to gauge exactly how much room they have to play with. Instead, the focal point is a large and frameless insert fire by Stoveax with a classic limestone surround and slate hearth.
The kitchen, supplied by McNally Living, is located to the rear and sizeable. It features a smart Leicht design with alpine grey lacquered units, Silestone worktops and an island with a shark nose edge. The room is equipped with Miele appliances, includes a large dining and separate living areas; both have glass walls framing garden views and full-height sliding doors to access the silver flag-paved patio.
A spacious utility doubles as a boot room and has been furnished with units in the same colour as the main kitchen. It has a seated area, coat hooks and a side door to minimise trailing dirt through the main part of the house.
The master bedroom is one of two on the first floor. It comes with an en suite shower room and swish Italian-made Zeff wardrobes, supplied by Bushell Interiors.
Number 20 has five bedrooms, measures 280sq m/3,013sq ft and is seeking €2.2 million through agent Knight Frank. The other two properties, numbers 22 and 24, have six bedrooms, measure 295sq m/3,175sq ft each and are asking €2.25million apiece.
Further along the road, number 6, a semi-detached period property of 290sq m/3,122sq ft, and the childhood home of Sky TV’s Rachel Wyse, came to market earlier this year asking €1.895 million and later sold for €1.9 million.
