Grovemount House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three bay late Victorian house. Tudor gothic type hood mouldings over paired windows at front ground floor. First floor windows above, are single and higher than eaves level, and form two dormers with low pitched roofs back to the main roof. Two plaster pilasters and an entablature frame the central entrance door. A number of inappropriate flat roofed extensions have altered the character of the rear of the building. The original single storey stables survive forming a small L shaped courtyard. One stable has a corrugated asbestos sheet roof and a large garage building nearby is similarly finished. PVC windows and rainwater goods have replaced the original fittings. The building is accessed from a 1970’s suburban housing development but much mature planting survives to the sides of the building. Outhouses shown on the 1830 map and also on the 1970 map are now demolished. A working water pump in bad condition (7m deep) is located in front of the building.

Historical information

Owner expressed a belief that the building was 300 years old. A belief not substantiated by the architecture or maps. The 1830 Ordnance Survey does however record buildings near to the site. These appear to be outbuildings of the present structure when it is first shown on the 1909 map. These buildings recently in use as a piggery were demolished in the 1980s and nothing now remains. The house was probably built by the Adams family at the turn of the century. The present owner’s grandfather remembered delivering goods to the house in 1902. Deeds do not survive. The family of the present owners have been living in the house since 1969.

References:
Owner (1997)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Once a picturesque, small Victorian cottage house, set in mature woodland and enjoying fine views over the Faughan valley. It’s setting has been badly altered by suburban developments in front of the house. The building itself has lost much of it’s character by a series of renovations.