Merville House, Merville Garden Village, Shore Road, Whitehouse, Co Antrim, BT37 9TH

An asymmetrical two storey four bay stucco house, built c.1840, restored c.2005, now in use as Merville Garden Village community centre. Rectangular on plan with projecting left bay, facing east; substantial single storey flat roofed porch; rear elevation is completely abutted by a contemporary office block extension. Roof is hipped natural slate; tall painted rendered chimneystacks with corbelled caps; concealed gutters with cast iron square-in-section downpipes. Walling is painted render over projecting plinth; corners of principal elevation and projecting bay are articulated by pilaster strips; cavetto moulded sill course at first floor level and parapet over moulded cornice with leaded coping. Windows are 1/1 replacement timber sashes throughout with moulded stucco architraves to principal elevation only; stepped rendered sills to ground floor windows. Principal elevation left bay projects and is two windows wide to each floor; bay two is abutted by the porch to ground floor, with single window above; bay three projects slightly and has a window with narrow detached sidelights to each floor; bay four has two windows to each floor. The porch comprises pedestal course supporting pilasters with decorative capitals; plain entablature and leaded parapet over; principal entrance to centre has double-leaf two panel door (elongated top panel and small bolection moulded bottom panel) with large brass knobs set between panels; flanking sidelights have narrow sashes; single window to each cheek. South elevation has a full height canted bay with a window to each cheek separated by pilasters; those to ground floor have simple moulded capitals and are surmounted by a dentil cornice; those to first floor have decorative capitals surmounted by moulded cornice. Rear elevation completely abutted. North elevation has two windows to each floor. The house is set at the east end of Merville Garden Village; flats overlook the building on all but the east side; there is a gravel forecourt with modern nursing home set on what remains of a former terraced garden which formerly overlooked Belfast Lough. Roof: Hipped natural slate Walling: Painted rendered Windows: 1/1 replacement timber sashes Rainwater goods: Concealed gutters; cast-iron downpipes