Dunore House, 8 Crookedstone Road, Aldergrove, Crumlin, Co Antrim, BT29 4EH

Dunore House is a two-storey, three-bay gable-roofed house built of horizontally channelled Tardree granite, with distinctive neo-Egyptian details to the entrance bay. It was constructed in 1870, as inscribed on the stringcourse of the rear elevation.

The south-facing main elevation is symmetrical, with a roof of Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses between gable upstands. Each gable rises to a chimney stack of channelled rusticated granite with projecting ashlar bases and plain projecting cornices; an intermediate chimney stands to the left of a central gabled dormer. The walls feature a projecting angled plinth, stringcourse, plain projecting platband, and projecting angled eaves course with coved granite corbels that return slightly to each gable. The moulded cast iron gutter also returns slightly to each gable.

Windows throughout are rectangular timber, vertically hung sliding sash with 2 over 2 glazing bars and horns, set in plain reveals. The dormer is of channelled granite with projecting copings, flanked by weathered buttresses, and surmounted by a truncated granite obelisk. The central dormer window is flanked by projecting tapering pilasters on pedestals, with lead cheeks.

The main entrance is the most elaborate feature. A rectangular timber six-panel door with an original octagonal iron handle is surmounted by a plain rectangular fanlight recessed between sandstone piers faced with tapering pilasters that flare at the base. These piers carry large sculpted sandstone heads in Egyptian Pharaonic style. The two outermost heads represent Rameses II with Egyptian false beards and bird inscriptions on the torso; the two inner heads are beardless with large earrings and more elaborate hieroglyphic inscriptions. The carved heads support a deeply projecting cornice with plain panels between them. The entrance is flanked by three-pane sidelights with similar pilasters beyond. Three deep cement render steps lead to the entrance bay, with a painted iron bootscraper on the bottom step at the right-hand side.

The west elevation is a symmetrical gable, two storeys with attic. It has two windows to each upper floor, sashed windows matching the entrance front, and three rectangular timber two-light casement windows to the ground floor, each with three horizontal divisions. The walling matches the entrance front; square section cast iron gutters with cruciform brackets flank each extremity (appearing to be replacements), and a concrete channel forms a gutter across the base of the gable.

The rear elevation is two-storey with roofing as the front. It has one small original flush rooflight and a short intermediate chimney to the left side of concrete brickwork with a modern pot. Three circular cast iron soil pipes and PVC downpipes (with a cast iron downpipe to the left side) are present. The elevation is asymmetrical, with sashed windows as the entrance front, all rectangular except for a large semi-circular arched stair window to the first floor. A rectangular timber glazed and flush-panelled door with a plain rectangular fanlight is recessed below the stair window. A sunken concrete-lined gutter runs along the base of the rear elevation, bridged in places with concrete.

The east elevation is a gable of similar character to the west, with four window openings to the ground floor plus a rectangular four-panelled doorway with a plain fanlight to the right extremity. The second window opening from the left is blocked up with smooth cement render. A concrete channel gutter runs along the base, bridged by concrete and a granite doorstep. A square chimney stack of concrete brickwork with a modern flue pipe has been built immediately in front of the gable to the left side. In front of that is a low single-storey flat-roofed boiler house of smooth cement rendered walls, lined and blocked, connected to the gable by overhead pipes. It has a small-paned metal window and a rectangular timber louvred door with a flat felted roof.

The house stands in a rural setting, facing a minor road but set well back within its own grounds. A tarmac area and paths to the west side and rear are surrounded by lawns bordered by mature trees and shrubs. The front boundary is formed by a hedge with a meadow between it and a stream across the lawns. Access is by a rough driveway leading over a twin-arched masonry bridge of segmental arches with a tall rubble basalt parapet, leading to a similar boundary wall containing a square-piered gateway with missing gates. A small enclosed concrete yard to the east contains single-storey brick and basalt rubble outbuildings and an 19th-century iron water pump (no longer functioning). Beyond this is a larger yard with a group of rendered farm sheds with corrugated asbestos roofs.