’Swiss Cottage’

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Attractive picturesque late-Victorian (?c.1870) mainly brick built one and a half storey gabled house, with a steeply pitched roof, pointed arch windows and a recent, but equally picturesque, kitchen extension to the E gable. The house is situated on the Ballyblack Road, c.2 miles SW of Newtownards.

Front N facade has a timber ‘arch panelled’ door with sidelights with panelled aprons. Above this is a four centred arch fanlight with tracery all encased with archivolt and pilasters which rise the full height of the facade. Directly above the doorway (and also within the area enclosed by the pilasters) are twin upper level sash windows, with four centred arch heads and horizontal glazing bars. These windows are also set with a central gabled half dormer, with decorative shaped barges. To both the left and right of the doorway is a slightly projecting square single storey bay topped with entablature and blocking course. Each bay contains twin sash windows (as upper level but without glazing bars) with moulded architraves and recessed panels below cills formed by three short pilasters rising from a chamfered base. Main front facade built mainly in red brick with greyish-yellow brick ‘quoins’, eaves course and decorative string courses (between ground floor and upper level and also above upper level windows.

The E gable now has a recently built single storey gabled kitchen extension which repeats many of the features of the main facade and successfully blends in with the original house. Its front facade is flush with that of the main house and has a central timber and glazed double door (with four centred arch heads to glazed panels) and segmental arch fanlight (with greyish-yellow brick ‘voussoirs’). The doorway is encased with pilasters which rise to a gable with decorative barges (all as before) with extension is also mainly built in red brick with greyish-yellow brick ‘quoins’ and eaves course, all as previous. The E gable is also rendered and has two upper level sash windows (above the extension), as previous gable but with flat arch heads.

The W gable is finished in rough cast render with two upper level windows and a single, centred, ground floor window (all as upper level front). Decorative ‘moulded’ looking ‘barges’ to both gables, and to gable of extension (which is blank and rendered).

Attached to the right (E) side of the main house rear is a smallish two level gabled ‘extension’/projection which is finished in rough cast render. To the S side of this projection is an centred upper level sash window and three, small, evenly spaced ground floor single light windows. The E gable of the projection has a small sash window to the left (S) side of the upper level, and ‘barges’ as main house. Attached to the lower half of this E gable of the projection, and to the rear (S facade) of the kitchen extension (i.e. built into an intersection), is a brick built three-sided, hipped roof porch/hall. The S and E sides of this porch have casement-like windows with four centred arch heads to lights. In the SE ‘corner’ side of the porch is a timber panelled door with leaded sidelights with panelled aprons. To the right on the rear of the kitchen extension is a window, similar to those on the porch, but smaller.

The exposed rear of the kitchen extension is rendered. The W gable of the projection has a small sash window to the upper level right. Built into the intersection of this gable with the rear of the main house is a decorative hipped roofed timber conservatory.

The roof of the main house and the kitchen are pitched with Bangor blue slates, some courses of which contain decorative slates with rounded ends. The porch roof has a similar combination of slates, but the rear projection only has the plain variety. The main roof has two centred greyish-yellow brick chimney stacks with decorative corbelling, with a smaller matching stack to the gable of the kitchen extension. There are two small Velux windows to the rear of the main roof and a larger one to the rear of the kitchen roof. Cast iron rw goods.

Rubble built outbuildings to S.

Historical information

A group of buildings is shown on this general site on the OS Maps of 1834 and 1860, but none appear to match the exact positioning of the present dwelling. Judging by its overall style, this house may have been built c.1870. The kitchen extension and porch were added in 1996.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st Edition, 1834, Down 6.
2 PRONI VAL 1B/34 1st valuation, Newtownards, c.1835.
3 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st Revision, 1860, Down 6.
4 PRONI 2nd valuation, Newtownards, c.1861.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Well preserved, unusual, picturesque two storey late Victorian farm house with ‘Tudor’ arch windows, decorative brick work, mouldings, and distinctive high pitched roof. Recently this house has had a large ‘porch’ added to the rear and a kitchen extension built on to the E gable, but both of these have been designed to blend in with the original look of the house.