The height of luxury
Penthouse-style home has bags of space and style, writes Paul Drury
To the motorists who whizz along the M8 through Glasgow, Charing Cross is simply another ‘blink and you miss it’ junction. The well-to-do area was transformed when the city fathers decided it stood in the way of the motorway back in the 1960s.
Magnificent buildings were torn down to make way for the road, including the muchmissed Grand Hotel, where Buffalo Bill and Annie oakley stayed when their travelling show visited Glasgow in 1892.
The grand Victorian townhouses of Charing Cross began to change, too.
Where once they had accommodated the families of prosperous Victorian businessmen, addresses such as Newton Place and Newton Terrace were taken over by commerce and converted into offices.
We are now in the midst of yet another transition as these properties built in the mid-1860s return to residential use.
one such building is so special that it has two addresses – numbers 11 and 12 Newton Terrace.
This quirk results from the building’s conversion from office accommodation, which has produced four sleek apartments. The top floor has emerged as a luxurious penthouse flat that makes best use of the available space.
The developers have wisely avoided tinkering with the scale of the main rooms, resulting in ceilings almost twice the height of modern flats.
When teamed up with huge sashand-case windows, this results in space that becomes flooded with light. Peek out of the windows at the front and you drink in spectacular views of the Park district, including the landmark towers of Park Church and Trinity College.
Another trick of the light has been carried out in the kitchen area, where the units and central island have been placed directly below the cupola.
The sitting room/dining room has been decked out with an Art Deco-style cocktail bar, with wall-mounted wooden cabinetry. There are three good-sized bedrooms to the back of the property, with the master bedroom sporting an en suite wet room.
The main bathroom has a four-piece suite including a separate shower cubicle.
Downstairs, a security entry system offers access to a welcoming communal hallway.
There are stairs as well as a lift, which leads directly to your door on the second floor. The location of the flat will suit those who can live without the car, even though it has two allocated parking spaces to the rear. The city centre is only minutes away by foot, allowing you to walk to work and come home after a night out without having to rely on taxis.
It is also on the doorstep of the city’s Finnieston Strip, named fourth in a recent survey of the hippest place in Britain to live, as well as the delights of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Offers over £549,000 to Maitland Walker at Rettie. Tel 0141 341 6000.