Glendona

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey house built of red brick with a dormered attic which includes a half-timbered central gable. Main entrance faces east.

East elevation symmetrical, with two windows to each side of a central projecting porch. Roofs hipped, of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with serrated red terracotta ridge tiles and terracotta finials. Spocketed eaves with shaped corbels. Two chimneys, one to each gable, in red brick with sandstone weatherings and moulded sandstone cornice. Moulded cast iron gutter; cast iron downpipe to each extremity, with large 'fleur de lys' shaped cast iron brackets. Walls of red brick with offset brick plinth in two stages, and projecting moulded brick string course to first floor. Windows segmental arched to ground floor, flat arched to first floor: rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 1 over 1, with horns to first floor, but frames segmental arched to ground floor. Rounded projecting red sandstone cills.

Single storey projecting porch, of similar walling as main block; red brick parapet with moulded red sandstone copings, ramped up at corners. Central segmental arched doorway with stop chamfering to recessed brick surround, surmounted by a segmental arched sandstone canopy with curved sandstone brackets carried on carved red sandstone corbels of stylised foliate scrolls. Rectangular two-leaf door, 6-panel, raised and fielded, in varnished oak, with plain segmental arched fanlight. Three steps up to front door, covered with modern tiles. One window in each side wall of porch: segmental arched as previous to front elevation.

Segmental arched three-light casement window with top lights to first floor above porch. Entrance bay rises to a half-timbered dormer gable incorporating herringbone pattern timbers to apex of gable and quatrefoil panels to base; contains a central rectangular timber window, two fixed lights with two 3-pane top lights, replacements for original. Sides of dormer gable have vertical panels of timberwork. Flanking each side of timbered gable is a flat-roofed dormer also with red and white vertical timbering to sides and replacement windows to front of similar pattern to attic gable.

South elevation comprises main two-storey gable of house of half-hipped form, with projecting gabled two-storey stair bay to left and two-storey side wall of rear return to left of that. Main gable has shaped and moulded barge boards with trefoil sinking at end. Three windows to each floor, as previous to entrance front. Stair bay projection has oversailing roof with barge boards similarly decorated as main gable; surmounted by terracotta finial and containing half-timbering to apex. Two windows to ground floor, flat arched, sashed as previous. One large window to first floor, segmental arched and comprising of a three-light arrangement with central semi-circular arch and top lights, all filled with leaded glazing. Set-back return wall has three windows to each floor, all segmental arched, sashed as previous, with numerous cast iron downpipes and soil pipes to right hand side and on returning side wall of stair bay. To left hand extremity, flush with rear return is a single storey lean-to extension, original, with roof slated as previous.

West elevation comprises half hipped main rear wall, three-storeyed, plastered and painted red with segmental arched windows sashed as previous, two to top floor, one to each lower floor, with segmental arched back door containing rectangular glazed and panelled door and plain fanlight, all painted white. Four concrete steps to back door. Lean-to projection has rectangular metal framed window in west side, three-pane fixed light with three-pane top-hung vent.

North elevation comprises side of rear return to right, with canted bay to left projecting from main half-hipped gable of house. Rear return is of plain character with segmental arched windows, sashed as previous, to each side of broad chimney breast. Canted bay has one window to each floor in angled sides flanking chimney breast, surmounted by a half-timbered gable which oversails at angled corners on large shaped timber struts carried on shaped red sandstone corbels. Barge boards with trefoil embellishments as previous; terracotta finial with chimney on apex. Windows rectangular and segmental headed, as on entrance front, and sashed as previous. Main gable of front block has similar barge boards as before.

SETTING: The house stands in its own spacious grounds facing the main road but set well back and reached by twin driveways. Large grassy garden to front, screened from road by mature trees. Tarmac driveway across face of house, with concrete path around north side. To rear of house is a large concrete yard with parallel ranges of original gabled outbuildings; with extensive modern farm sheds to the rear of that. Original outbuildings roughcast, but of no architectural merit, their main interest being an inscribed roundel in one gable. Rear yard screened from front garden by low wall of red brick finished in dry dash render with rounded copings, linked to house by a small plain iron gate set in original circular cast iron posts with replacement turned wooden finials.

MAIN GATEWAYS: Entrance gateway to south comprises of a pair of wrought iron gates of scrolling pattern, mounted on cast iron piers which have ornamented panels; with a smaller pedestrian gate to the left mounted on a third pier of similar design; all ironwork painted white. Low red brick screen walls with rounded brick copings curved forward to each side from short returns.
Gateway to north is similar except there is no smaller side gate, and curved screen wall to north end is truncated.

Historical information

Built in 1904 by Thomas Sefton who, with his brother Alfred, emigrated to America from Ballinderry, Co Antrim, in the late 19th century, but later sold their uncle's insurance company in St Louis to return to Ulster. They lived at Glendona with their unmarried sisters. The last of the family, one of the sisters, died in 1944, and the house was bought by Mr Acheson (of the well known Tweedy Acheson drapery business) who remained until 1972 when the property was bought by the present owner. The circular plaque in the gable of one of the outbuildings is inscribed "Glendona. Built by Thomas Sefton. The yard by Alfred Sefton. 1904". In the Belfast and Ulster directories the first appearance of the family at Glendona was in 1905 when only The Misses Sefton were listed; by 1906 Alfred and Thomas were also listed as residents.

References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1832, Co Antrim 59 (shows previous house).
2. OS Map 1901-2, Co Antrim 59 (shows previous house).
3. OS Map 1920, Co Antrim 59 (shows present house, with present driveways).
4. Inscription on gable of outbuilding (‘Glendona. Built by Thomas Sefton. The yard by Alfred Sefton 1904’).
5. Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory for 1905 (lists The Misses Sefton at Glendona for the first time).
6. Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory for 1906 (lists Alfred Sefton, The Misses Sefton, and Thomas Sefton all at Glendona for the first time).
7. C. Watson, The Story of the United Parishes of Glenavy, Camlin and Tullyrusk (Belfast, 1892), p 20.
8. Original photographs taken by Abernethy of Belfast, c 1904, in possession of owner of house in 1999.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is an example of an Edwardian house of distinct style and proportion which retains most of its original features inside and outside and occupies an attractive setting.