Woodbank, 451 Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 9SE

Woodbank is a three-bay two-storey house with attached vernacular cottage, built around 1810 and facing south on the east side of Shore Road. It is a complex composition of interconnected structures arranged around a central courtyard.

The principal two-storey block has a lower two-storey extension with hipped roof attached to its left gable. To the rear, a three-bay two-storey return projects eastward, featuring a central canted bay and a semi-circular bay to the north gable. The western elevation of this return adjoins the separate two-storey vernacular house. The courtyard is further enclosed to the west by a single-storey studio (formerly an outbuilding) with mono-pitch roof and to the north by an adjacent coach house.

The roofing throughout is natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles. The chimneys are rendered with a corbel course and octagonal pots. The walls are ruled-and-lined render with a projecting string course and plinth. Windows are predominantly 6/6 timber sliding sashes with painted masonry cills.

The principal south elevation features a central entrance fronted by a Greek Doric projecting porch with fluted columns (without bases) and entablature. The flanking bays have windows, with the right-hand window flanked by two bas-relief roundels. First-floor windows rise to each bay. The entrance door itself comprises six glazed panes over three fixed panels with a transom light above, all set within deep moulded masonry architraves.

The left gable is abutted by a lower two-storey extension with hipped slated roof. The rear elevation is three storeys in height (the third floor contained within the attic level), with roughcast rendering. An exposed section contains a six-pane over one-panel door to the left and an 8/4 window to the right, with two windows to the first floor and two to the second (the left-hand one fixed and positioned above the return roofline, the right being 2/4).

The east gable is abutted by a two-storey return, forming a symmetrical three-bay elevation with chimneys at the party walls. A central two-storey canted bay with hipped roof contains a central double-door with two glazed panes over one fixed panel, a first-floor window, and cheek windows to each floor. The return's north gable has a two-storey projecting semi-circular bay with two windows to each floor.

The return's western elevation, facing the courtyard, features an 8/8 window with margin lights to the ground floor and paired first-floor windows, both flanked by small centre-pivoted four-pane casements. The eastern two-storey extension's north elevation comprises a single-storey canted bay with central double doors and a window to each cheek, surmounted by a tripartite window. The west gable contains a round-headed window to the ground floor, below which is a random rubble wall and brick pillars with stepped square caps and ball finials supporting cast-metal gates that provide courtyard access.

The courtyard is enclosed to the west by a single-storey studio with slated mono-pitch roof and to the north by the boundary wall of the coach house.

The vernacular house is a semi-detached three-bay two-storey rectangular structure with hipped natural slated roof and blue and black clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimneys with corbel course and octagonal pots are positioned at the left gable and central party wall. Cast-iron rainwater goods run throughout. The walling is roughcast rendered.

The principal elevation is three-bay with a central entrance and windows to the flanking bays, with two 1/1 sliding sashes at first-floor level. The west gable is abutted by the main building's two-storey north return; the exposed section has a first-floor window. The rear elevation, facing onto the enclosed courtyard, has a timber-sheeted door to the right and two 8/8 windows to the left, with three windows at first-floor level (3/6 at left, 6/3 at centre, and 1/1 above the door).

The west gable comprises two lean-to extensions. The right one is single-storey with a replacement door and window; the left is two-storey with two timber casement windows at ground floor. The right cheek, facing the courtyard, has a timber-sheeted door with a fixed 4/4 window above; the left cheek has a 4/4 fixed casement window. The exposed gable section has a first-floor window.

The adjacent coach house is rectangular-on-plan with hipped natural slated roof and blue and black clay ridge tiles. A single red brick chimney stands at the centre of the north elevation. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present throughout. The principal north elevation features exposed random rubble walls with a round-headed coach arch containing replacement windows; other walls are roughcast rendered.

The property sits within mature landscaped gardens extending south and east, with those to the east reaching to steep grass verges and a private slipway, enclosed by a random rubble wall at the shore. Access from the west is via paired masonry pillars with stepped square caps and ball finials, with a central vehicular entrance and pedestrian entrances on each side, all fitted with timber gates. A gravel driveway leads to car-parking and the enclosed courtyard to the west of the house.