DREAM HOME BYTHE SEA
HOW does a Grade II-listed park and two beaches on your doorstep sound as an attractive location to call home? As well as that, there’s a town centre just down the road, a capital city a few miles away and a heritage coast that offers the combination of rugged rocks, sandy beaches and millions of years of history, including dinosaur footprints.
Welcome to this contemporary, stylish dream home – one of four modern homes built opposite Romilly Park in an exclusive area of Barry, on a strip of land sold for development in 2011.
Wander over to the Grade II-listed park, that so many local residents enjoy on a daily basis, for a stroll around the floral displays, a picnic on the lawn, use of the bowling green and tennis courts, and a children’s play area – every demographic of the population can enjoy this beautiful open space.
The park was originally constructed on land belonging to the Romilly family in 1898 and was completed in 1911.
In 1920, the National Eisteddfod of Wales was held in the park near the Gorsedd Circle, which can still be found in the park and is worth having a look at.
The park gained a Grade II listing in February 2022 as “a good example of a small, Edwardian urban public park retaining most of its original framework and features, including an attractive rockwork and water garden”. But sadly, the original hexagonal bandstand is no longer in existence.
The park is an attractive local feature that makes the roads around it a popular place to live.
This urban home is a modern and yummy filling between the park, the Knap lake, gardens and pebble beach, and sandy shores of Barry Island beach.
So many pleasant spots to enjoy just a stone’s, or pebble’s, throw away from the front door.
The two-storey, two-tone house offers an attractive facade that mixes grey brick, metal, glass and smooth render to ensure that the home brings a modern flavour to the mix of substantial period properties along the road hugging the park.
This super-stylish, contemporary home can enjoy views of the National
Green Flag award-winning Romilly Park to the maximum from its first floor, via two bedroom balconies.
But before you climb the bespoke glass and wood stairs that look like a contemporary sculpture, there’s plenty to admire first on the ground floor.
Through the chunky black front door and straight into a spacious open-plan, sociable space that combines kitchen, dining and relaxing.
As might be expected from the outside, the interior design is contemporary, with plenty of white walls and shiny surfaces.
However, there’s an abundance of layers of texture, tones and touches of nature, as well as glamour and luxury, that make this house a warm, inviting and sumptuous home – no cold bland decor here, rather a stylish home that invites you to relax rather than worry that you’re going to spoil the interior.
The mix of wood, leather, velvet, glass, marble and metallic from the furniture to the accessories are further enhanced by the soft visual lines of houseplants and the classic elegance of chandeliers, mixed with modern artwork and statement rugs that add the final layer of design in the sociable lounge area.
The interior design also ensures that the spaces visually flow, as well as optimise the size of the space.
In the kitchen the white units blend seamlessly into the walls, leaving the central grey units the space to breathe and command attention.
The soft grey tone of these central units, with a visual texture effect reminiscent of concrete, is mimicked in the tiled floor – but this grey is highshine grey to add a layer of contemporary luxury to the kitchen as well as bounce light around the space.
The gloss white island unit is a bonus yet understated feature, quietly adding to the contemporary design, as well as a sociable place to sit and chat to the cook.
The dining area next to the kitchen has been furnished with thought.
It could have been an area dominated by bulky and dark furniture, but the choice of a glass table and transparent chairs in a classic and timeless design means this zone of the open-plan space is barely visible – until someone sits there, of course.
The use of glass and plastic means the furniture is not a visual block – you can see straight through them to the garden. This makes the space feel bigger and lets the light effortlessly flow from the glass garden doors through the space, not blocked by the dining zone furniture but instead assisted by it.
The connection to the garden is a massive element of the design of the house. Both the kitchen and the lounge open out via a set of french doors onto the rear outdoor patio and lawn that stretch the width of the plot.
The central staircase in this house is of course a major feature within the ground-floor space, and with that prominent position in mind it had to be a thing of bespoke beauty.
As you climb it and admire the wood and glass construction you are also accompanied by light and views, as the design of the rear of the house includes a window that strides down the two storeys next to the stairs, offering views towards the coast via each black-framed section as the perfect partner.
The first floor has four bedrooms and a family bathroom and all continue the modern and stylish interiors. But it’s probably the master bedroom that t will ill linger li i in th the mind id – with ith an ensuite, walk-in wardrobe and french doors to a private balcony with glass balustrade offering delightful views across Romilly Park.
The other front-facing bedroom boasts a balcony and park views too, while from the rear two bedrooms you can, on a clear day, see across the landscape to glimpses of the sea.
The family four-piece bathroom is a delight, with a clean and contemporary black-and-white mono design, again accented by wood, glass and plant accessories to bring in texture and visual warmth. This successful design is mimicked in the master bedroom ensuite, which is a sanctuary for plants and quirky artwork.
■ The Romilly Park property is on the market with a guide price of £550,000 with Priory Estates and Lettings, Barry, call them on 01446 744750 to find out more.