20 Victoria Avenue

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey gabled house of c.1887, formerly detached but now linked to its neighbour to the S. The house is situated on the W side of Victoria Avenue, just to the N of Newtownards town centre.

Front E facade is symmetrical. In the centre is a timber sheeted door with plain fanlight and moulded architrave, with pediment set on brackets above. To either side of the doorway is a flat roofed canted bay with sash windows set on a cill course. Each bay is topped with a cornice and blocking course (with eaves with gutter above). To the first floor are outer paired sash windows with a single window in the centre, all set on a cill course with brackets. Each window opening has a segmental arch head and moulded ‘shouldered and heeled’ architrave.

The N gable has a sash window to the right on the ground and first floor. That to the first floor is set on a cill course and has a segmental arch head. Above this window the eaves course is carried through to form a pediment with the gable apex.

This gable merges with the N facade of a two storey gabled return, which has two sash windows to the first floor and a modern window opening to the right on the ground floor. The gable of the return has to sash windows to the centre right on the first floor and three windows (of varying size and with modern frames) to the ground floor, with a doorway (with sheeted door) between the second and third windows. The S facade of the return is blank.

Attached to the ground floor of the right half of the rear facade of the main house and the S gable, is a large single storey flat roofed extension. This extension is also attached to the building to the S (No.18). To the first floor of the right half of the rear facade of the main building is a sash window.

The S gable is blank and has a modern glazed ‘corridor’ to the ground floor, which links this building with No.18.

The facade is finished in lined render and painted. The roof of the main house and the return both have Bangor blue slates with a yellow brick chimney stack to each main gable and one to the return. Cast iron rw goods.

Large car park to the rear of building. Former front garden partly paved (in brick).

Historical information

As its name hints at, Victoria Avenue was laid out in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, though it was originally intended to be called Railway Avenue. Thus the buildings within it date from either this year or shortly afterwards, for in 1891 it was remarked that the houses and villas were going up ‘faster even than was anticipated’. This property was converted to office accommodation (and linked to No.18) during the 1980s.

References- Secondary sources
1 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown: a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), p.168.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Relatively plain late Victorian two storey town house (c.1887) now converted to office accommodation and linked via a modern glazed corridor and large rear extension, to its terrace neighbour to the south. The front facade is still largely intact though the diagonally sheeted timber entrance door is an obvious modern addition.