2 Steeple Road, Antrim, Co Antrim BT41 1AF

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey gabled house with rendered walls and slated roof, with a lower gable-roofed addition at one end. Main entrance faces south east.

Entrance elevation of main house is 5 windows wide; roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with black ridge tiles. Three chimneys, one on each gable and one at an intermediate position on the ridge; gable chimneys smooth cement rendered, with projecting rendered brick cornice; central chimney is rendered with a wet dash of crushed stones, and has a projecting concrete coping; 4 modern pots on chimney to left, one on central chimney, and 2 on chimney to right.
Cast iron gutter, now overgrown with creeper, with cast iron downpipe; trefoil iron brackets.
Walling of roughcast with light sprinkling of small crushed black stones.
Windows rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 2 over 2 with horizontal pane divisions, with horns, set in exposed sash boxes, with smooth rendered and painted flush-set surrounds; projecting stone cills.
Main entrance is a rectangular timber 4-panel door with ornamental bronze knocker and handle, set in a moulded wooden surround, with rectangular fanlight containing arcaded metal glazing bars.

Left-hand gable is rendered as to front elevation but much of it re-rendered with a wet dash of crushed stones; chimney on apex is smooth cement rendered. Verges to roof essentially flush, with very small overhang of slates. Two windows to left-hand side, one on each floor: sashed 2 over 2 as previous to entrance front except pane divisions vertical, and plain rendered reveals without surrounds.

Rear elevation: roof slated as to front with one small original 2-pane rooflight near right-hand end. Cast iron gutter and cast iron downpipe to main block, and similar gutter and downpipe to additional block; PVC gutter to rear return; downpipes of rear return and additional block both discharge into plastic barrels.
Rear wall of main block is a symmetrical arrangement of two windows to each side of a stair window, with one window to each floor, all sashed as previous to entrance front but with smooth rendered and painted reveals, except stair window which has margin lights.
Rear wall of rear return has a rectangular ledged timber door, with an old latch, set in plain reveals. Side wall of rear return, facing away from gable, has two windows, one to each floor, similar to windows on gable end. One corner of the rear return is projected up to form a flat topped base for a water tank; corrugated roof to tank tower, with PVC gutter. Rear wall of additional lower block is in continuous plane with main block and has similar walling.
Walling of main block is roughcast similar to entrance front, with some later dry dash around window reveals. Rear wall of rear return is similar to gable.
Rear wall of additional block has three rectangular doorways, one to upper level and two to ground floor. Ground floor has a ledged timber door set in plain reveals to the left of a wider opening containing a pair of double doors, ledged, set in plain reveals with a timber lintel. Upper level has a half-door type, ledged, but now damaged, set in plain reveals.
Extending to the left of the additional block is a rendered screen wall of single storey height containing a ledged timber door leading to front garden area.
Gable of main block above lower block is smooth cement rendered; gable of lower block similar.

OUTBUILDINGS
To the rear is a yard of tarmac in poor condition with a range of outbuildings around three sides. They comprise a large gabled and slated barn with rendered walls, containing three rectangular openings along one side; vertical timber boarding to upper part of one gable and red brick to the other gable. PVC gutter. Lower block is also gabled and slated; rendered walls, two rectangular ledged timber doors; PVC gutter and cast iron downpipe, red brick gable.
A lower single storey shed closes the end of the yard: slated roof; rendered walls; rectangular timber small-pane fixed light windows, with ledged timber door and horizontal boarding.
Projecting from large outbuilding is a rendered wall with humped top terminating in a pair of circular piers, rendered with wet dash, with conical caps, mounted with a wide flat iron gate with scrolled finials.
Large outbuilding has a later steel framed greenhouse added to gable.
Rear wall of large outbuilding is of brick with small brick-head sized ventilating openings; rectangular ledged timber door.
Rear wall of lower outbuilding is of red brick with similar door.
Smallest outbuilding has red brick and basalt rubble gables and basalt rubble rear wall; slated roof.

SETTING: The building stands facing the main road set back slightly from it with a small garden in front. Front boundary formed by a hedge with a small pedestrian gateway situated opposite the main entrance. Concrete path from gateway to house, down two steps from pavement level. Small gateway has short square stone piers with chamfered corners and ogee shaped caps, all painted white; small ironwork gate.
Front hedge terminates at each end in a pair of circular gate piers of rendered rubble, with conical caps. Gateway to left contains an original flat iron gate; pair of piers to right are linked by a rendered wall.
Extending to right from end pier to right is a long low basalt rubble wall with a long side garden behind it; garden overgrown.
Extending to left from end pier to left is a short rendered wall with basalt rock copings abutting the roughly coursed basalt rubble boundary wall of the adjacent property which forms the left-hand boundary to the grounds. Projecting forward from the left-hand end of the house is a rendered wall with rounded rendered coping linking with the vehicular gateway.

Historical information

Precise date of building not known but a building appears on the site on the first OS map, of 1832. It is presumed that it was originally a single storey farmhouse later given a second storey around the mid-19th century. Known previously as 'York Lodge'. Outbuildings not shown until OS map of 1902.

References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1832, Co Antrim 50.
2. OS Map 1857, Co Antrim 50.
3. OS Map 1902, Co Antrim 50.
Secondary Sources
1. UAHS, Antrim and Ballymena (Belfast, 1969), p 12 (item no 50).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a good excample of a 19th century building which retains most of its exterior and interior features.