135 Whiterock Bay

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey International Style house of 1936 by Philip Bell set on a slight rise on the S side of Whiterock Bay (road) overlooking Strangford Lough, roughly a mile W of Killinchy.

This house is roughly square in plan and ‘cubist’ in form with a full height projecting bay to front and lower projecting section at the rear. The entrance is located roughly in the centre of the front N facade and consists of the original glazed door with steps and flat roofed open porch supported on a single thin metal pole. Directly above this is a small porthole window with two square windows (one to each floor) to the right. To the left is the projecting bay with large corner windows to each floor and another square-ish window to the first floor only.

The W facade a small single storey projection to the left with flat roof and glazed door to the right of this at an intermediate level is a small window. The right hand portion of this facade is lower.

This lower portion follows through to the rear where it projects from the main body of the house. This section of the facade has a single high level window. To the right of this section (on the main body of the house) are large corner windows (to far right). The space between the projection and the main body of the house is filled with a ramshackle car port.

The facade is finished in rough cast and painted. The roofs are flat with large overhangs. Metal and PVC rw goods. The window frames are all timber replacements. Rendered chimney stack to E, other stack to W has been removed.

This house was originally one of four built to compliment the adjacent Strangford Lough Yacht Club. However, two of its companions have since been unsympathetically altered and the yacht club has been replaced with a contemporary clubhouse.

Historical information

This house and its three neighbours to the east were built in c.1936 to designs by Philip Bell, who was at that time in the midst of the construction of the adjacent club house for Strangford Yacht Yacht Club. The modernist styling of the house matched that of the yacht club and the properties are said to have been constructed when the high tide prohibited work on the club house itself. The properties were intended by Bell as weekend accommodation for those visiting the area for sailing and were originally without running water or any kind of power.

This particular house was later acquired by the yacht club to serve as the club steward’s quarters, a function it retains today.
The original window frames were replaced by timber before the time of listing.

References- Primary sources
1 'Irish Builder and Engineer' 6 August 1938, p.647.
2 'The Builder' 14 February 1941, pp.180-181.

Secondary sources
1 'RSUA Yearbook 1983', pp.20-23. [Obituary of Philip Bell.]
2. Dictionary of Irish Architects http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/417/BELL%2C+GEORGE+PHILIP

The above primary source
references refer mainly to the Yacht Club.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Two storey International Style house of c.1935 by Philip Bell, a pioneer of modern movement architecture in the province, it enjoys a water side setting. The house is a series of interlocking flat roofed and rendered blocks with corner windows much influenced by the style of the modern movement in early twentieth century Germany. Although the original window frames and glazing pattern were altered before the time of listing, the exterior and boundary remains intact and internally it retains most of its fittings including stairs, doors and flooring. Originally designed by the architect as part of a group four holiday homes to compliment the adjacent Strangford Lough Yacht Club, only one other house remains relatively unaltered at no. 139 Whiterock Bay (HB24.17.084). It is a good example of this style of architecture, now rare in the province.