Shane's Castle Camellia House, Shane's Castle Park, Antrim, Co Antrim

Shane's Castle Camellia House is a rectangular single-storey building with entrances at each end and a long arcaded glazed front, located within Shane's Castle Park in County Antrim.

The main front elevation faces south-east and consists of a crenellated ashlar stone façade of what appears to be Portland stone. It contains 13 moulded semi-circular arched openings, each with triple clustered columns rising from moulded bases to small scalloped caps supporting the arches. The bases stand on a deep cill projecting over a low plinth at ground level. The arches are surmounted by a continuous arcaded drip moulding, above which is a projecting moulded stringcourse and crenellated parapet.

The windows are of timber, each consisting of two large rectangular lights with six rectangular pane divisions, with each division containing four panes. The panes overlap one another and are cut with segmental shaped bottom edges. All windows are surmounted by semi-circular fanlights, radially glazed with seven pane divisions each; each pane division contains two overlapping segmental shaped panes. The fanlights are bottom-hung and open inward. The windows are set in moulded timber frames rising from smooth rendered base blocks which sit behind the clustered columns, with smooth rendered panels between them. A number of the windows have broken glazing and all have later timber framed protective metal mesh panels affixed.

At the right-hand extremity the walling is of exposed brickwork where an adjoining block remains incomplete, with a canted basalt and sandstone bay projecting from it, left unfinished. At the left-hand extremity is a slightly projecting rectangular end bay in finely jointed ashlar stone, with projecting plinth and similar stringcourse and parapet to top; it contains a blind arrow loop slit.

The south-west facing end elevation contains the main entrance. This comprises a central semi-circular arched doorway set in a rectangular panel of ashlar stone which projects slightly from the centre of a projecting bow with snecked basalt rubble sides which curve back to join a taller flanking tower to each side. The flanking towers are of basalt rubble with stone quoining to the outer extremities, projecting moulded stringcourse and crenellations to all three elements. Some ashlar stone blocks of the parapet have been repaired in brickwork and render. Each flanking tower contains a Gothic arched window at low level; the windows are Gothic arched timber fixed lights with horizontal pane divisions, set in splayed reveals and cill with moulded label.

The doorway itself consists of a pair of rectangular timber glazed and panelled double doors surmounted by a rectangular 4-pane glazed panel with a semi-circular 7-pane radially glazed fanlight over that, all set in a moulded timber frame recessed behind a moulded semi-circular arch carried on twin clustered columns with scalloped caps, similar to the main elevation. The doorstep is of cement.

The rear elevation is of one storey on a basement storey and consists of random rubble with some brickwork, including brick dressings to small rectangular window openings. The parapet is surmounted by sandstone crenellations. The basement area contains large rectangular recesses with timber lintels surmounted by flat brick arches. At the right-hand extremity is a projecting brick buttress at the junction with the side of a terminal turret on the main entrance elevation. A segmental brick arched open doorway at basement level of the turret opens into a vaulted chamber with earthen floor and a narrow flight of stone steps at the rear which is blocked off at the top. A number of truncated basalt rubble cross walls project from the rear wall at basement level, the remains of an adjacent basement area either fallen into ruin or part of an unfinished rebuilding of the main house.

The north-east facing end elevation is single-storey with three bays. It consists of a central segmental arched entrance recess containing a semi-circular arched doorway, flanked each side by taller semi-circular arched recesses, all in brickwork except for the top portion of basalt rubble surmounted by stone crenellations. The doorway contains a pair of rectangular timber double doors, each 2-panel, surmounted by a 2-pane semi-circular fanlight. Three cast iron downpipes from concealed gutters are present. This elevation was originally intended to be an internal wall surface, forming part of an unfinished suite of new rooms along the south front of the castle. It faces into a rectangular enclosure which leads on to other rooms laid out with internal doorways on axis with this one; enclosing walls range from cill height to mid-storey height.

The building stands at the rear of a gravelled early 19th-century battlemented terrace overlooking Lough Neagh, with the ruins of an 18th-century country house to the rear and the unfinished ruins of early 19th-century country-house extensions attached to one side.