31 Millburn Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay two-storey semi-detached L-shaped gabled house with Gothic-style detailing; dated 1865 and located to the east side of Millburn Road in Coleraine town centre. L-shaped plan with breakfront to gable and oblique gabled entrance porch to re-entrant angle; two-storey gabled return to rear with modern lean-to and single-storey flat-roof extension.

Pitched natural slate roof with angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystacks having tall clay pots; decorative timber bargeboards with finial to gables. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on projecting bracketed timber eaves, with cast-iron downpipes and hopper. Walling is painted ruled-and-lined render on a contrasting plinth; chamfered corner to northeast wall of return. Windows are a variety of replacement timber sash all with contrasting reveals and projecting painted sills; bipartite timber mullioned window to ground floor of breakfront; square-headed windows with simple Gothic tracery detail to first floor of gabled return.

The principal elevation faces west; gabled bay at right with openings set in breakfront advancing beneath offsets at ground floor; bipartite timber mullioned window to each floor. Carved and painted plaque over first floor window reads “1865”. Left bay has a narrow horizontally divided 2/2 window at ground floor; porch to re-entrant angle has heavy timber bargeboards and is accessed by two sandstone steps; original timber-sheeted door with decorative cast-iron strap-hinges and door furniture in a shouldered reveal with glazed quatrefoil over.

The north gable has a mullioned 2/2 timber window at first floor over paired 2/2 windows with continuous corbelled sill in a painted render surround with stepped head.

The east (rear) elevation is abutted by the gabled return, which is further abutted at south by the lean-to and single-storey flat-roof extension (of no interest). Gable has two windows at first floor over a small slated boiler house. North elevation has a timber mullioned 2/2 window with corbels under sill at ground floor right and a low timber-sheeted door with cast-iron door furniture at left.

The south elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB03/18/023A).
Setting:

Situated on a rectangular plot to the east side the river Bann in Coleraine town centre, overlooking The Rose Gardens and Alexander Park, and directly south of Millburn Terrace (HB03/18/034A-I) and Salem Lodge (HB03/18/024). Set on an elevated site set back from the road, with gravelled driveway and garden to front, bounded to road by rubblestone wall with freestone coping and topped by modern timber fence. To rear yard is a modern painted render outbuilding, through which access is gained to a long rectangular lawned garden.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Painted smooth render
Windows: Replacement timber sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current dwelling is one of a semi-detached pair completed by 1865 for David Baxter (Mullin). The pair was initially known as ‘Fountain Villas’ and first appears on the third edition OS map dating from 1904. The two houses each with an office, yard and garden enter valuation records in c1866 and are each valued at £13 and 10s for the garden.

Millburn Road was laid out as a new road to Portrush and Portstewart at the suggestion of an Irish Society deputation of 1834. The new road, which was in progress in 1840, exposed a spring on the eastern side of the road during construction work and this fountain gave its name to ‘Fountain Villas’ (Mullin). Until 1860 the Olphert estate on the north side of Coleraine could only be used for farming, but in January of that year Chancery Court permission was obtained for 99 year leases. In March 1860 the Olphert estate advertised sites for villas on the east side of Millburn Road, commencing at the fountain but building does not appear to have taken place until the launching of the Coleraine Building Society in 1864 (Mullin).

The first occupier to be noted at number 31 was John Baxter who leased the house from David Baxter. Subsequent occupiers were Robert John Pressley (1868/9) Daniel C Gillespie (1888) James Lynn (1890) James R Linton (1895) Mary Ann Wright (1896) Marion Wright (1927). Mary Ann Wright was a widow living with her three daughters, two of whom worked as dressmakers. The eight-room house was designated first class. By 1911 only two of the sisters remained in the house, one as the housekeeper, the other continuing to work as a dressmaker.

The building was listed in 1981 and renovations and a conservatory extension were carried out in the 1980s (HB file)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1 First Edition OS Map 1830
2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-50
3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/7/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923
5. PRONI OS/6/5/7/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1949
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A-N Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
7. HB file – 03/18/23B

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in Coleraine and Portstewart” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1971-2
2. Mullin, Rev T H “Coleraine in Modern Times” Belfast: Century Services Ltd, 1979

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A mid-Victorian two-bay two-storey semi-detached L-shaped gabled house with Gothic detailing; dated 1865 and located to the east side of Millburn Road in Coleraine town centre. Forming a pair with number 29 (HB03/18/023A), initially known as ‘Fountain Villas’, this is a well-preserved group of mid-Victorian townhouses with proportions and detailing typical of the period, illustrating the development of the town in the middle part of the nineteenth century. Of local interest, numbers 29 and 31, have group value with themselves and also form a coherent group with other Victorian dwellings along Millburn Road. They are an important element in Coleraine's architectural heritage.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age and S - Authenticity also apply.