River deep, price high at super luxury Dubai villa

A luxury villa with its own private river, in Dubai’s Al Barari development, has gone on the market for Dh24m.

This 24,000 square foot villa in Al Barari comes with its own private river, courtesy of the original owner buying the plot of land next to it. Courtesy Luxhabitat

This villa may be in Dubai but, for those who have never visited Al Barari – the development just off Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road – it feels as though you have accidentally traipsed into a lush forest or tropical jungle.

Such is the focus on the surrounding greenery that there are more than 2,000 species of trees in the 189-villa development.

And just to reinforce that forest feel, this luxury home has a private river with a personal walkway running through the back of the garden – not many villas in the UAE can claim that.

On the market for Dh23,999,999, the property is spread across a 24,000 square foot plot, which works out at just shy of Dh1,000 per sq ft.

So what does Dh24m actually buy you in one of Dubai’s premium areas?

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See a gallery of the forested villa here.

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Well, five bedrooms all en suite, an upstairs family room with roof terrace and a formal living and dining area downstairs with family living area. It has a family kitchen and a service kitchen, laundry, one basement room with a bathroom, a self-contained maid’s living quarters, three-car garage, powder room, two private cooled and covered courtyards, a swimming pool and pool bar with decked area and a plunge pool. There is also a barbecue area that is big enough to cook a wildebeest, should you find one in the undergrowth, and rooftop terraces galore.

Style-wise, the villa is light and modern with plenty of space and a simple urban design.

But the huge garden is its real selling point because of the sweeping river and green banks – all thanks to the owner buying an extra plot to accommodate the waterway.

Al Barari has its own nursery where it grows plants, shrubs, trees and flowers that are liberally strewn throughout the development, ensuring you rarely see a grain of sand within its leafy confines. You may have driven past the development on MBZ and not noticed it, as it is hidden behind a wall of green trees and a raised bank of sand.

The purchasers of these properties like seclusion and green stuff, which you will need lots of to buy this home.

q&a:

Luke Jones, the luxury sales director for Luxhabitat, tells Andrew Scott more about the Dh24m Al Barari villa:

The plot size of this villa is huge. Is there scope for extending the villa?

The villa has a built-up plot size of 13,858 sq ft sitting on a plot of 24,000 sq ft, so there is scope to extend, should you need to. The current owners bought the extra plot next to the park, which gives this villa a unique aspect and a unique opportunity to fashion it into the home you want.

Is the price higher as a result?

The Type C Camilla Villas, of which this is one, usually fetch about Dh13m, but because this has the space and the opportunity it has been priced accordingly. It is unique.

Al Barari is more of a suburban than metropolitan area. Will buyers still pay this price?

This is one of the most exclusive developments in Dubai and the people in it value their seclusion and privacy. There are only 189 villas in Barari residence, which is the smallest development in Dubai. Phase 2 of Al Barari is currently under construction and which offers hotels, retail and restaurants, but they will still be separate from Phase 1. If you run out of milk there is a small supermarket within cycling distance, but it is not an area that uses retail as a profit driver. It is a buyer’s market right now and there is generally a disconnect between asking price and the transaction price, however this owner does not need to sell so the right buyer has to come along. Even in the boom years, Al Barari only sold eight to nine villas a year, which underlines its exclusivity.

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