The Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Formal, single storey, Italianate gate lodge to Ballywhite House of c.1870, with full height porch and decorated hoods to windows The building is sited to the S side of the W drive to Ballywhite House, E of the Lough Shore Road, 1½ miles N of Portaferry.

Front W elevation is symmetrical. To the centre is a full height porch with pediment with cast iron floral acroterion. Timber panelled door with plain fanlight all encased with plain pilasters, with decorated brackets and cornice with simplified blocking course above. To left of porch is a sliding sash window, surround similar to door with stone cill supported by brackets, with similar window to right of porch. Eaves course with narrow string course below.

North gable has window to ground floor as before with a semi-circular arch head and an attic window directly above, with simple moulded surround and label to arch head. Gable end has broken pediment. Small single storey extension to left of gable with small sliding sash and case window and mono pitch roof, whose edge of wall at left curves to rear of extension and yard wall.

South gable as before but without decoration to ground floor window.

Rear has high wall enclosing yard to left merging into rear of extension at right which has small two pane window. Almost all of the back wall is obscured, firstly, by assorted debris piled up against it and by a lean to corrugated roof attached to wall, but obviously underneath all of this there must be a back door to yard.

Rear of main building has small sliding sash window in centre of first floor. [Presumably, there is a back door to the small kitchen extension, however, at the time of this survey the writers were unable to gain access to the yard to find if this was so.]

Entire building finished in lined render and unpainted, with chamfered plinth. Roof pitched and gabled with stone parapets and Bangor blue slates, with central tall rendered chimney stack with one decorative pot. Right of front porch covered in greenery. Stone work to porch is cracked.

Historical information

This dwelling dates from c.1870 and was built to serve as the lodge for the newly rebuilt Ballywhite House.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/24/3 OS maps, 2nd ed., 1899-1900, Down sheet 24

Secondary sources
1 G. Philip Bell, C.E.B. Brett, Sir Robert Matthew, Ulster Architectural Heritage Survey: Portaferry & Strangford
(Belfast UAHS 1969), p.20
2 Major W.S. Brownlow, "The Brownlows", in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.11' (1987), pp. 8-9
3 J.A.K. Dean, 'The Gate Lodges of Ulster- A Gazetteer' (UAHS, 1994), p.89

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Small, well proportioned and detailed single storey, Italianate gate lodge of c.1870, situated along the entrance drive to Ballywhite House. Group value with the listed Ballywhite house.