25 Knockagh Road, Newtownabbey, Co.Antrim, BT36 8BW

25 Knockagh Road is a split-level International-style modernist house built in 1970, designed in 1969 by Michael Ferguson. The house faces south and sits on the east side of Knockagh Road, Jordanstown, built on a sloping site that capitalises on panoramic views over Cave Hill and Belfast Lough to the south.

The building consists of a lower entrance storey with a cantilevered principal floor overhanging and opening onto ground level at the north west. The roof is flat with a painted timber fascia, monopitched to the central section, and covered with a single-ply membrane. The structure employs load-bearing construction to the end bays, while the central bay is constructed on a steel H-frame and cantilevered over the lower storey. Walling comprises painted smooth render with incised contrasting banding to the left bay and west elevation, part unpainted sand lime brick, and isolated sections of glass brick. All soffits are timber sheeted. Windows are plate glass aluminium-framed casements of various sizes, the majority without glazing divisions.

The principal elevation comprises three basic sections with the central section breaking forward. The lower storey is recessed with the principal entrance contained in a further recess to the left of centre. The left section has painted render with a square window to the lower storey and a large picture window to the principal floor. The central section has concrete brick to the lower storey with a horizontal window (square window to left cheek) beneath a cantilevered fully glazed bay above. To the right, the lower storey consists of a recessed raised basement painted black. A recess at left contains a patio door opening onto a deck fronted by a sand lime brick parapet dropping to ground level; at right is a rectangular block containing two windows. The entrance comprises an oak sheeted door surmounted by a fixed panel, with full height glazing to either side in timber frames.

The west elevation has three openings to each level. The lower storey is slightly recessed and contains a timber sheeted service door and two small windows. The principal storey has three equally spaced patio doors opening onto a deck supported on a steel platform with steel supports. The utility entrance block is recessed to the left and has a full height window.

The north elevation comprises two projecting geometric bays with various horizontal and vertical strip windows, separated by a recessed glazed panel and a recessed patio door leading to a further deck. The recessed lower storey is blank to the left end. A single-storey right end is abutted by a sand lime brick utility block and carport covered by a single flat roof floating on timber sheeted beams. The utility block has a full-height uPVC window to the north, a full-height glass brick panel, and a timber sheeted door to the left cheek; the carport is enclosed with its roof supported to the west side by a sand lime brick wall. The east elevation has two windows, one square and one vertical.

Internally, the house features an eclectic mix of modern and period detailing. The oak doors are contemporary with and directly inspired by those being inserted in the Ulster Museum extension at the time of construction. The marble fireplace originated from a nineteenth-century house in Templepatrick, whilst the spiral staircase and marble enclosure came from a disused chapel.

Michael Ferguson was a developer without architectural training. The design shows the influence of the modernism of Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson, with visible influences from the work of Noel Campbell, though it is not of the standard of the best examples of this style. It represents a late example of a modern dwelling in rural surroundings and a style of architecture uncommon in Northern Ireland.

The mature elevated landscaped setting comprises terraced lawns and mature trees, with a river diverted into three connected pools. A single-storey rendered outbuilding block with a monopitched roof to the north east is designed in a similar style to the main house. The entrance is at the west with a tarmac drive circumventing the house to the north and south, accessed from the road via two circular rubble stone-faced piers.

Minor deviations from the original plan have occurred since construction, including the partial enclosure of original patio areas in the right bedroom wing.