It’s a magical moment. A gentle twilight is settling down, night is coming in. And then, one by one, the Victorian lamps twinkle into life around the Square, washing us in a gentle glow. In several of the houses around us living rooms are bursting with light of their own and there is a soft murmur of voices on a nearby balcony.

For just a moment we glimpse what this street scene will be like when the houses become homes to their new owners and the Square truly comes to life.

It is indeed just like Berkeley Square… you can almost hear that nightingale singing.

Gary Nixon will no doubt be pleased by the image. Because this is, I suspect, exactly how he and his family imagined this development when they first launched the project.

It seems a long time ago now that Gary, part of the Nixon Homes family building business, first mentioned plans for The Square, at the top of Tadcaster Road.

I had been waxing lyrical in the Property Press about St Paul’s Square – at that time the only square in York. Unlike London, I had explained, York was built not on impressive squares but in (admittedly equally impressive) terraces. St Paul’s, I suggested, was a gem because of its rarity and its grand homes.

“Just you wait,” Gary told me at the time, “until you see what we are going to do.”

Well, we waited. And waited. And now, finally, several years later, the wait is over and York has its second London-style square.

And, in a simple word, it is brilliant.

We went along for the grand opening of the latest show home on the site – the Eaton style townhouse. It was not quite an exclusive viewing, the great and the good, including the Mayor and his entourage, were there before us.

But, avoiding the clanking of mayoral chains, we took the tour of this grand house – becoming ever more impressed with each step (and there are a lot of them, this home is spread across four floors).

It all begins with an impressive reception hallway which leads to a garden room with French doors opening on to, well, the garden. There is also a cloakroom and a utility room on this floor.

Then it’s up the stairs to the first floor – but, in the tradition of saving the best until last we will leave this for the moment.

Instead we will meander up to the second floor where we find a superb master bedroom suite with built in wardrobes and a bathroom; then there is another large bedroom and a house bathroom. Pausing for breath, it is then up to the third level where there are three more bedrooms, one with an en-suite shower room.

continued from page 1 Now, back to the first floor, the centrepiece of this home… There is a large dining stroke family room and a superb fitted kitchen here – but it is when you step into the drawing room that you suddenly realise the majesty of the house and just what the Nixon family have achieved here. It’s just simply jaw-dropping (it left us more breathless than the stairs).

Naturally, it’s a large room, high and handsome and whispering elegance – from the high ceilings, decorative architrave and Georgian cornicing and ceiling rose to the beautiful arched windows above two sets of French doors leading out onto a balcony from which you can look out over The Square.

It’s simply beautiful – and, as with every room in this house, the fittings are high quality and extremely stylish.

And, talking of style, a mention should go here to the other members of the Nixon Homes team who have made such a contribution to the project.

The interior design, in all its simply stated elegance, is the imaginative work of Janet Nixon and Gary’s wife, Kirsty.

And it is the final member of the team who we meet at the end of our tour.

Gary’s father Ian Nixon smiles as we tell him how much we liked the house. It’s a very ambitious project, I say, very imaginative.

“And do you think we have pulled it off, then?” he asks.

Well, yes. I do. We may be biased because of our liking for London squares but, in our opinion, at least, this is possibly the best development York has seen since… well, since they first built St Paul’s Square at the turn of the 19th Century. Gary Nixon was right. It was worth waiting for.

Square deals

The Square, as its name suggests, is a development of exclusive town houses built around a central garden and walkways. There are six “blocks” in total, four of them facing on to the square. These include a mix of luxurious three, four and five bedroomed houses ranging across three and four floors. All have elegant first floor drawing rooms with large French doors opening on to balconies overlooking The Square (and one group also has superb views across open countryside to the rear – the best of both town and country). There are also a series of two and three bedroomed apartments and a group of three further homes to one side of the development. Prices begin at £450,000 for the three-bed homes. The Eaton home featured in our main article ranges in price from £495,000 to £550,000 and the other five double bed homes begin at £795,000. There is now a range of show homes available to view, including the Eaton.

The development is being marketed by Hudson Moody, phone 01904 650650. The marketing suite at The Square is open Monday to Friday, 10am-5.30pm and from 10am-5pm on Saturday and Sundays, phone 01904 707558.