Bentra

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey 3-bay Georgian house with a single storey gabled projection to the rear and a hipped single storey conservatory to the west gable. Main entrance faces south.

South elevation is symmetrical, with one window to each side of a central doorway.
Roof of Bangor blue slates in graded courses, between gable upstands; ridge tiled. Two chimneys, one on each gable, smooth cement rendered with splayed caps and stub pots.
Walls rendered with wet dash of crushed stones, with slightly raised smooth cement rendered quoins, plinth, stringcourses to each floor in line with cills, dressings to openings, frieze, and projecting eaves course.
Moulded cast iron gutter returning to the west gable; gutter supported on shaped stone brackets.
Windows are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 8 over 8, without horns, with exposed sash boxes which are moulded, set in square surrounds, with projecting painted stone cills.
The elliptically arched entrance contains a rectangular timber 12-panelled door, original, the top nine panels raised and fielded, the bottom three flush and beaded; 8-pane sidelights and looped radial fanlight, all set in a block surround with a faceted cement keystone surmounted by a recessed stone panel with incised inscription 'Built by J. Linn AD 1821'.
Entrance approached by a flight of four steps, of composition, with curving plinth walls terminating in short square piers.

West gable is rendered as entrance front with rendered quoins to right-hand extremity only; no stringcourses except at base of chimney between copings. Short gutter return to each side, from front and rear elevations, with a metal downpipe to right-hand side. Render of wall patched along a line between gutter returns: looks like track of previous gutter.

Projecting from gable to the left-hand side is a conservatory with hipped roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses; ridges tiled; walls rendered with wet dash; moulded cast iron gutter all round, with metal downpipe on west wall.
South side contains a pair of rectangular timber double doors, each 10-pane, flanked by 8-pane sidelights, set in plain smooth rendered reveals; projecting concrete cills; slate flagged area in front of doors.
West side contains three windows, rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 6 over 6, without horns, with exposed plain sash boxes; projecting concrete cills.
North side has two windows similar to west side.

North elevation of main block of house: roof slated as on entrance front; walls rendered with roughcast overall except for a plain vertical strip of smooth render to the left-hand extremity; smooth rendered eaves course; moulded cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipe and moulded cast iron hopper to right-hand side; PVC soil pipe. Four windows to right-hand side of rear return, and two to left, all sashed as previous to entrance front, and all 8 over 8 panes, except first one to right which is 6 over 6; smooth rendered reveals with projecting stone or concrete cills.

Rear return is gabled and slated as conservatory, with timber bargeboards. Walls wet dash, as conservatory. Moulded metal gutters to each side, with metal downpipe.
One window in each wall, rectangular timber sliding sash, 3 over 3 without horns, with exposed sash boxes, set in plain reveals, with modern narrow concrete cills.
One door to left of window in east side: rectangular timber, ledged, set in a moulded wooden frame; large stone flags outside door.

East gable is a blank wall, rendered as to main entrance front, including quoins, plinth, and string courses.

SETTING: The house stands in a very rural area at the end of a long lane off the main road ending in a tarmac area at the east gable. It is surrounded by agricultural land. The main front overlooks a lawn bordered by hedges, with a gravel area immediately to the front, extending around to the west side and the rear, bordered by horizontal timber fencing and a hedge.
There are looped and decorative iron railings and gates linking the east gable of the house with a round pillared rendered gateway to the west which contains a pair of decorative flat iron gates, linked to a single storey outbuilding by a short rendered screen wall. The gabled outbuilding is rendered with roughcast and slated.

Historical information

Built in 1821 by J. Linn.

References – Primary Sources
1. Inscription over main entrance.
2. OS Map 1832, Co Antrim 50.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is an early 19th century house in a vernacular Georgian style displaying the proportions, plan form, and some of the ornamental details that are characteristic of that style. It is of some local interest as a comparatively unspoiled example of its type which enjoys a pleasant rural setting.