20 Seaview

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Right one of a pair of two storey (+ attic) houses, on the N side of Seaview. This house is two bays wide to façade and three bays wide to rear (the houses interlock).

Pitched natural slate roof. Rendered and corbelled chimneystack on the party wall with adjoining house (HB16/12/016A). Right gable has a tiled verge. Wall head dormer to left bay has a pitched natural slate roof and plain timber bargeboard. 2/2 sash window to front and a two-paned window to left and right cheeks. Modern small skylight to the right bay of the front pitch. Boxed eaves with plain eaves board carry moulded metal rainwater goods. Front wall is dry-dashed with stepped stucco quoins to right end.

House faces southeast to sea. Main entrance is on right bay. Modern door with plainly glazed transom over has a smooth rendered and painted architrave with foliated console brackets supporting a moulded cornice. Aligned above is a 1/1 sliding sash window with a smooth rendered and painted semicircular-headed architrave, with slightly advanced block at spring of arch, infilled spandrel and plain cill.

Left bay has a two-storey canted bay, which shares eaves level and rainwater goods with main block. Roof is concealed by a moulded cornice and supports the wall-head dormer. Its walls are rendered and painted with common cill course to each floor. One window to each cheek, all 1/1 sliding sashes.

Left gable is abutted by adjoining building HB16/12/016A.

Right gable is blank.

Rear elevation is smooth rendered and painted. It is abutted to left by a two storey return (see later). At ground floor centre there is a 6/6 sliding sash window with painted granite cill. At ground floor right is a pair of t+g sheeted carriage doors (shared with next-door). There is a 6/6 sliding sash (without horns) to centre and right bays at first floor.

Rear return has a pitched natural slate roof and a glazed cat-slide roof (over rear lobby) at join with house. Walls are smooth rendered and painted. Lobby advances slightly, its exposed left cheek is blank and its right cheek is abuts the rear wall of the main block. Its front (yard facing) elevation has a glazed t +g sheeted door with 1x 3 paned window to its left (without cill). Above to first floor is a pair of timber casement windows. Return has four openings to ground floor. The second from left is a t+g sheeted door; the rest are 6/3 sliding sashes. First floor has two 6/6 sash windows. A derelict outbuilding abuts end gable of return. Left cheek of return is blank.

Setting:

Garden area to front of house enclosed by dwarf wall with hedges. Shares gravel drive with adjoining building (HB16/12/016A). Outbuilding to rear is two storeys high and has pitched natural slate roof, rendered walls and numerous original openings including circular cast iron framed lattice windows.

Historical information

First shown, along with its neighbour (HB16/012/016B), on the 1859 OS map. Noted in the Second Valuation of 1861 as ‘Bayview’; measurements given a 7.75yds x 9.5yds x 2.5 storeys.

Primary sources
1. OS 6” maps, 1859, Co Down sheet 54 (PRONI – OS 6/3/54/2).
2. Second Valuation book, 1861 (PRONI – VAL 2B/3/65B, p.65).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

One of a pair of good mid 19thC houses set on a prominent sea front location. Little altered, it retains much of its original character including some internal features.