Mount Pleasant, 15 Rosemount Park, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 0NL

Mount Pleasant

This mid-Victorian house at 15 Rosemount Park, Newtownabbey, has since been demolished, but prior to its loss it retained most of its original external and internal features with its setting largely unspoilt. The building was of local historic and architectural interest.

The house was a two-storey gabled three-bay structure with its main entrance facing south. The south elevation was symmetrical, with a roof of Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses and overhanging eaves. Two chimneys, one on each gable, were constructed of polychrome brickwork in red with white brick dressings and diaper patterning. A yellow brick cornice ran across the front. Each chimney was topped with three pots of original creamware of octagonal section, though caps had been removed from some. The walls were built of roughly coursed rock-faced basalt with rusticated granite quoins at the extremities and a projecting smooth rendered plinth.

The windows were segmental-headed timber sliding sash windows of 2 over 2 configuration with horizontal glazing bars and horns. These were set in segmental arched white brick block surrounds with alternate black and white bricks forming the outer arch, and had projecting stone cills, painted. At the time of survey, ground floor windows were boarded up.

The main entrance was a rectangular timber five-panel door with an original Victorian knocker and handle, surmounted by a plain semi-circular fanlight and flanked by two narrow round-arched sidelights. These were all set in white brick arcaded dressings with the doorcase and sidelights slightly recessed, with alternate white and black voussoirs to the outer arches. The sidelights were boarded up at the time of survey. A deep sandstone doorstep completed the entrance arrangement.

The west gable was of similar walling to the main front with overhanging verges featuring shaped timber barge boards, plain soffits, and shaped brackets. This elevation had two ground floor windows, both boarded up, and one first floor window matching those on the entrance front and similarly set in brick surrounds.

The rear elevation featured a central two-storey gabled rear return of lower ridge height than the main block. One window on each floor was positioned on each side of the rear return. Ground floor windows were boarded up, while first floor windows were sashed as on the entrance front, all set in similar brickwork surrounds. The roof of the rear elevation was slated as the main front with two flush rooflights which appeared to be modern additions. PVC guttering with PVC downpipes served each end of the rear elevation.

The rear return itself retained similar walling, roof detailing, and rainwater goods to the main block, with the addition of a cast iron downpipe and cast iron soil pipe. The west side of the rear return had a rectangular glazed flush timber door with a modern metal handle, set in a segmental arched white brick surround, with a boarded-up window to its left. The first floor featured a rectangular timber sliding sash window of 6 over 6 configuration with horns, set in a flat arched white brick surround, with a small rectangular single-pane window in a similar surround to its left. The gable of the rear return had a wide rectangular ground floor window set in modern concrete brick dressings, now boarded up. The first floor gable featured a pair of coupled rectangular timber windows, vertically hung as sliding sashes, each of 6 over 1 configuration with horns, set in white brick surrounds.

The east side of the rear return had one window on each floor, set in white brick surrounds with flat arches. The ground floor window was boarded up whilst the first floor window was sashed 6 over 6 as on the main entrance front. The east gable was similar to the west gable, with two windows, one on each floor. The first floor window was sashed 2 over 2 as on the entrance front with similar surrounds to the west gable, whilst the ground floor window was boarded up.

The house stood in its own grounds set back from the road and reached by a driveway laid with blackstone chippings. There was rough grass to the front with a further grassed garden beyond, separated by a hedge, with the front boundary also formed by a hedge. Mature trees lined each side of the grounds, and a long rear garden extended to the back. The rear garden was reached by a short path marked by a small iron gate with ornamented cast iron posts, though finials were missing. A detached gabled garage with steel trusses and corrugated asbestos walls stood to the rear, though it was semi-derelict at the time of survey. Outbuildings that formerly stood some distance to the rear of the house had been demolished and largely cleared away.

The precise date of building is not known, but the house appeared on the Ordnance Survey map of 1901–2, whilst outbuildings appeared on the map of 1857. Stylistically the house appeared to date from the 1870s. The first owner recorded in directories was William Spears, with the address 'Mountpleasant' given in 1880; he first appeared in Jordanstown in the 1877 directory but the precise address was not given at that time. The grounds subsequently became surrounded by modern suburban development, and the house was demolished after being surveyed but before listing was completed.