41 Ann Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 3 bay wide 2½ storey house with basement and shopfront.

The ground floor from right, has a 4 panelled entrance door to living accommodation with glazed screens on each side and rectangular fanlight. The shopfront has a central recessed shop door with glazed upper panel, brass push/pull handle, on each side simple plain shop display window with corner mullion and glazing returned into entrance recess. A transome in line with fanlight divides the display window, neatly lining through the tops of the door frames and the fanlights. (There is one over the shop door too). The window cill is low with decorative infill below and returned into recess. Floor of recess has tessellated tiles. On each side of living accommodation door a broad pilaster and on the extreme ends of the shopfront including domestic door, a decorative rococo style pilaster carried up to form a stop to the coloured glass name fascia which has gold lettering incorporated. Over the name fascia a bold cornice. The front is constructed in hardwood, possibly iroko. Shopfront projects 500mm beyond wall of house.

At 1st floor 3 no. double hung sliding sash 2 pane segemental headed windows more or less centred on the façade and evenly spaced. Each window has a moulded architrave and a moulded stringcourse crosses the façade and steps up over the window heads in a continuous band. Above a further straight moulded string or cornice course (in reality an ogee gutter) at cill level of the 3 no. double hung sliding sash 2 pane widnows directly over those below which are carried up to form bold closely spaced gabled dormers. The front wall carries up to form dormer cheeks. Barge boards decorated with scalloped lower edge.

Under the upper gutter a thin frieze with gutter under and continuing along No. 43 (see HB05/14/010G) short lengths of downpipe drain water from roof between dormers to lower gutter. Roof natural slates, chimneystacks at either end.

There is a back return to the rear, 2 storeys high including basement with galvanised fire escape at end and a railed fire escape gangway access flat roof from 1st floor of main building. 2 windows at 2nd floor level, 1 double hung sliding sash 2 pane, the other an escape door/window. 2 no. velux type windows on roof, which has natural slates.

The house and shop maintains the building line of terrace frontage at Ann Street.

Historical information

House probably built c 1880s. Renovations carried out in 1996. Business of optician carried on in shop.

References

Primary Sources
1. O.S. Map 1832 Rev. 1856 Antrim sh. 8.
2. O.S. Map 1904 Ballycastle.
3. Notes, 1st Survey, E.H.S. Hill Street, Belfast.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
C. Ornamentation
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A good early 20th cent shop front in a restrained style with some rococo decoration. A good example in Ballycastle of central recessed shop door with shop window on either side, though its importance has been diminished by inappropriate alterations, it is still considered to possess special interest.