Ardara House,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large, two storey, hipped roof, Italianate gentleman’s residence of c.1871-2, probably originally by Thomas Jackson, but greatly extended to the W side c.1895-1900. The original house was roughly square in plan, but the extension (which was executed in much the same style as the original and probably by Thomas Jackson’s son Anthony) has rendered the planform roughly rectangular. The house is set on a rise at the end of a curving drive to the W of the Ballygowan Road, SW of Comber town centre. The former grounds of this house were given over in the 1980s and 1990s for modern housing developments and Ardara House itself is now subdivided into six apartments.

The front (E) façade is symmetrical. In the centre of the ground floor is a large-ish flat roofed entrance porch. In the centre of the E face of the porch is a panelled door with (largely) semicircular arched fanlight above. The door is encased with plain pilaster jambs and flanked by very narrow ‘sidelights’ with sash frames and small panels beneath. The fanlight has a moulded surround with keystone with a cornice and frieze as a springing course. To either side of the fanlight are two moulded roundel plaques with shields thereon. To the N and S faces of the porch there is a tall semicircular arch-headed sash window with surround largely as entrance. The porch is topped with a dentilled cornice with pierced parapet above. Two steps to the doorway.

The porch is flanked by twinned windows similar to those to porch sides but with corbels to cills and panels beneath. To the first floor are three segmental arch-headed windows with moulded surrounds with keystones.

To the far right on the S façade there is a large, full height bay with curved sides. To the S face are twinned windows as front with a single similar window to each of the curved sides (whose frames and glazing actually curve ). To the first floor of the bay this arrangement is repeated but with segmental arch head windows as first floor front façade. Both ground and first floor bay windows rest on a cill course.

To the left of the bay are twinned windows (as ground floor front) with twinned windows directly above (as first floor front). To the left of these windows probably marks the culmination of the original house. Beyond this point a long stretch of the façade is recessed. In the centre of this recessed section is a square single storey bay with twinned windows (as ground floor front) to the S face and similar single windows to the E and W faces with much plainer surrounds with roundel above. The windows rest on a cill course and the bay is topped with a dentilled cornice and pierced parapet. Immediately to the left of the bay is a single window (as ground floor front), with a doorway to the left of this (almost twinned with it), much the same as the front porch, but minus springing course. To the immediate right of the bay is a similar doorway (which was probably originally a window), whilst to the right of this is a flat arched sash window with surround as front first floor windows.

To the first floor of the recessed section are three windows to the left and centre, all as first floor front.. To the right of these is a grouping of three windows set at intermediate levels. The two lower of these windows are matching flat arch sash windows, with surrounds as first floor front, however, above each is a shallow moulded (almost Rococo-like) ‘scrolled pediment’. Above these windows (near eaves level) is a squat two pane (?fixed light) window with moulded surround topped with a more definite ‘scrolled pediment’ (also almost Rococo-like in style but different in design than those below).

To the left of the recessed section, the S façade culminates in a broad square bay, with twinned windows to both floors on the S face as in bay to far right.

The N façade mirrors the contours of that to the S in that there is a full height bay with curved sides to the far left (exactly the same as that to the S), a recessed portion to the centre and right, and a large square bay to the far right. To the right of the curved bay are twinned openings to the ground floor, as front but with the left window of the pair now made into a doorway. To the first floor directly above this pair is another set of twinned windows (as first floor front). To the left on the recessed section is a doorway, whose surround indicates that it was once a window. Directly above this is a flat arched sash window (with surround as first floor front windows), and above this is a fixed light roundel window. The remainder of the recessed portion has three windows to the ground floor and two to the first floor, all as first floor front. The large square bay to the right of the recessed section has three similar windows to the ground floor and three to the first floor, but the central first floor window is now blocked.

The rear (W) façade is largely plain with three segmental arch-headed sash windows to the ground floor and three directly above to the first floor.

The entire façade is finished in unpainted lined render, with a bracketed eaves course to the N, S and E. The rear façade appears to have been re-rendered recently. Sections of the N, S and E facades are covered in creeping plant growth.

The roof is hipped, is covered in Bangor blue slates and has a slight overhang. The roofs of the curved bays are rounded. Roughly in the centre of the roof is a large, hipped cast iron skylight. There appear to be at least six rendered chimney stacks. Cast iron rw goods.

Tarred drive around house with a large ‘car port’ to the N (added c.1988). To the W is a large single storey former ‘wash house’ with sandstone façade, Georgian paned sash windows and recently added porch to W. The original main drive to the house was to the N but a modern housing development has been built upon this. The present drive is the former ‘tradesman’s entrance’ to the S. The cast iron gate screen along the present drive is in fact the original entrance screen once situated to the N; it was moved to its present location in c.1988.

Historical information

Ardara House was built in c.1871-2 for Thomas Andrews. It was probably designed by Thomas Jackson, an architect who is believed to have already carried out work for the Andrews family. The original Ardara consisted of the eastern portion of the present building, a relatively simple hipped roof house without the curved side bays.

Letters written by Thomas Andrews from 1871 and 1872 (recently deposited at PRONI) tell us that his new house was built by a Ferdinand Fitzsimons and that work appears to have been completed by September 1872.

Around c.1895-1900 Ardara was greatly enlarged to the west side, giving the building a slightly unorthodox rectangular plan with a short front façade. The curved bays were probably added to the north and south facades of the original section at this time also. The changes, which repeated much of the original styling, may have been carried out by Jackson’s son, Anthony. Included within the new section of the house was a large billiard room, whose dark wood panelling is believed to have been the work of craftsmen later employed in the building of the Titanic, no doubt hired by Andrew’s son. Thomas Jnr, the man who later designed, and perished on, the ill-fated liner.

In c.1988 Ardara House was tastefully divided into six apartments by architect Edward Bell.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.4189/A/2/3 Andrews Papers- damp press letter book with letters from Thomas Andrews concerning Ardara, 1871-72.
2 PRONI D.3655/A/10/11 James Andrews Papers- photograph of Ardara House [?c.1890].
3 PRONI OS/2/3/10 OS map, 2nd ed. 1901, Down 10.
4 Sale brochure for Ardara House (Brian Morton & Co., ?c.1988).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest

Evaluation

Impressive large two storey Italianate gentleman’s residence of 1872-3, probably by Thomas Jackson, greatly (but sympathetically) extended c.1895-1900. The building is finished in lined render with curved bays and a symmetrical front façade which is largely original. The interior of the building was tastefully divided into six apartments in c.1988, leaving most of the original 1870s ground floor reception area intact.