Clermont

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey c1900 Gothic Revival style house on N side of Rostrevor Road. It is U planned the base of the U facing S to the sea. Steeply pitched natural slate roof with crested terracotta ridges. Exposed decorative rafter tails supporting half-round metal gutters

Chimneystacks are tall Tudor style octagonal stacks in red brick with slender shafts and corbelled copings. They are grouped and tied together as follows: (1) four on rear (N) gable of the W roof; (2) a pair on W pitch of W roof (between central and right bays); (3) a pair on the ridge of the S roof (between the two bays); (4) a pair between the central and left bays of the E roof. Each external pitch of the U shaped roof (W, S, and E) has decorative wall head dormers and the S and E elevations have bay windows with free standing roofs (see details below).

All walls are line rendered and painted. All but the N (yard) elevation and basecourse have a moulded Gothic stringcourse between ground and first floors. All windows are segmental headed 1/1 sliding sashes (with horns) stop-end chamfered arrises and swept stooled cills (unless otherwise mentioned). Those to ground floor have a fine moulded stringcourse which rises over their heads as a segmental hood mould. The first floor windows have similar individual segmental hoods with foliated stops.

W elevation
This elevation is three bays wide and contains the main entrance, within a single storey porch on central bay. Porch is very ornate and constructed of timber. It has a steeply pitched natural slate roof with rafter tails, gutters and ridges as main roof. Its gable has a bead moulded bargeboard. It rests on a finely dressed chamfered granite basecourse. Its heavy timber frame is all stop-end chamfered and painted. It advances out to front as four Gothic buttresses framing a pair of narrow central doors and their sidelights.

Doors to centre each have a single bottom panel, which is raised fielded and decoratively chamfered. Each top panel is decoratively chamfered and is glazed with small rectangular leaded coloured glass quarries. Sidelights are broad, with diagonally t+g sheeted aprons and their windows are 2x2 glazed, with cusped-headed transoms and glazed trefoil spandrels. All glazing is leaded and coloured glass. Over door, in the gable apex, is a radial fanlight with six coloured and leaded glass segments (each with a cusped end). Around the fanlight, filling the rest of the gable, are numerous glazed quatrefoils and cusped lights set into the heavy chamfered timber frame. Porch cheeks are three bays wide, detailed as front sidelights. There is a single window at ground floor of the left bay. Ground floor of the right bay has a pair of glazed timber doors to centre and is abutted by a glazed conservatory (see later). The first floor left and right bays of this elevation each have a window with wall head gable over (moulded bargeboard with trefoil insets). The W elevation, over the porch to first floor, has a pair of round-headed narrow 1/1 sashes set below a large gabled dormer with decorative, trefoil and cusped inset bargeboard.

The conservatory is a lean-to, its left cheek abutting the right cheek of the porch and of similar depth. It has a glazed timber framed roof with raised ventilator glazing under a leaded roof where it abuts the main house. The roof has ten panes divided by timber ribs and the ventilator has five pairs of two-paned lights, which can be opened from internal pulleys. The front elevation of the conservatory has five divisions. The central one has a pair of are doors with decorative stop-end chamfered bottom panels and a quadrant glazed top pane (with the two doors together they look semicircular headed). The remaining division each has a pair of cusp-headed windows with glazed spandrels and herringbone sheeted apron panels. The right gable of the conservatory has a large fixed picture window with cusp-headed lights over.

The S elevation of the main house (base of the ‘U’) is two bays wide and faces to the road/sea.

Its left bay has a two-storey canted bay window with steeply sloping octagonal natural slate roof with fish-scale lead trim to apex and decorative metal finial. Each cant has a single window to each floor; all share a common cill. Right bay has a single-storey rectangular bay (with common cill) cheek with flat roof behind a blocking course with moulded coping. It has two front windows and single ones to each cheek. Over this bay are two windows under a decorative gable (as that to centre bay of W elevation).

E elevation is three bays wide, each diminishing in width from the left side. The left bay is identical to the right bay of the S elevation but its decorative gable is the width of the whole bay. The central bay has a projecting two-storey bow window with three curving windows to each floor (continuous cill courses). It has a conical natural slate roof with fish-scale lead trim to apex and decorative metal finial. The right bay has a single window to each floor. Over is a decorative gable as those to the left and right bays of the E elevation.

Rear elevation is three gables wide, all with moulded bargeboards. Left one has a pair of small 2/2 sashes (all windows here have flat heads) set to right side on both floors. It is abutted to ground floor left by the S gable of a single-storey outbuilding enclosing the E side of the small rear yard.

The central gable advances forward slightly from that to left and right. It has a small 2/1 sash widow to ground floor and a large semicircular headed 4/8 spoke-headed sash window (leaded and coloured glass) to first floor. The right gable is blank and abutted to ground floor by a one and half storey return.

The roof and walls are of this return is detailed as that to main block. Its left cheek (yard facing) has a plain half door and a 2/2 sash window. Its end (N) gable has a 2/2 sash window to each floor (that to ground floor is set to right). The right elevation of the return is flush with the front (W) elevation of the main house and has a single segmental headed sash window (with hood and foliated stops) between ground and upper floors.

The small rear yard is enclosed by an L shaped single storey outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof and rendered and painted walls. Its left (E) face is flush with the E elevation of the main house. Its has two modern timber windows and a modern door. The base of the L faces N and has a metal framed window. Its right cheek and right gable are both blank. Its yard facing (S) wall has two t+g sheeted doors and a 2/2 sash window.

The front garden is medium sized and lawned to S and E with stone walling enclosing all sides. It is maturely planted with shrubs and trees and there are paths around the house with two large Grecian stone urns.

In the NE corner of the garden there is a small timber garden house. It is octagonal on a solid rounded base with a pitched hexagonal felt roof. Seven cheeks each have 2x2 paned windows with margin panes and six paned mouth-organ transoms. The remaining (to NW) is open and forms the doorway. Internally it has a timber bench on seven sides.

Just NW of the house is an underground air raid shelter dating from WW2 (not inspected). To the rear (NW) there is a large much altered farmyard (of no interest) and To NE there is a modern open-air swimming pool

W to road is rock-faced granite block work with rusticated copings. A curved gate screen at W end of road boundary is similarly detailed and ashlar granite gate pairs carry decorative cast-iron gates (one off hinges) with spiked dog-bars.

Historical information

First appears in the Valuation Revision book entry for 1900. Occupied by Susan Warnock at that time. The farmyard is not shown on the 1901-02 map; it first appears on the 1919 map.

Primary sources
1. Valuation revision book (PRONI – VAL 12B/19/21D, p.54).
2. OS 6” map, 1901-02, Co Down sheet 54 (PRONI – OS 6/3/54/3).
3. OS 6” map, 1919, Co Down sheet 54 (PRONI – OS 6/3/54/4).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This impressive c1900 house remains substantially unaltered and has a very attractive original timber porch, a conservatory and a small summer house, all of high quality and little altered.