Kyne's Cottage, Shane's Castle Park, Antrim, Co Antrim, BT41 4NE

Kyne's Cottage is an early to mid-19th century house of plain style, built between 1840 and 1859, which retains most of its original features within a well-wooded demesne setting. The building first appeared on the 1858 Ordnance Survey map, replacing an earlier structure shown on maps of 1829 and 1832, and was not named until the 1902 map.

The main block is a two-storey, three-bay house with a gabled entrance porch and flanking screen walls to the front, facing west. The entrance elevation is symmetrical, with one window to each side of the central porch. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with overhangs to the gables but not to the eaves. The walls are of smooth cement render with traces of previous lining and blocking, rusticated quoins to the extremities, a projecting plinth and eaves course, all painted white. A cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipe returns to the left-hand gable. Two chimneys, one on each gable, are of smooth cement render, lined and blocked, with plain block cornices unpainted, and two tall modern pots to each.

Windows are rectangular timber sliding sashes, vertically hung, 8 over 8 with horns, in partly recessed frames, set in plain reveals with projecting painted stone cills. The porch is rendered as the main block, with raised plain rendered vertical pilaster-like strips to the corners. Its roof is slated as the main block, with timber barge boards and eaves boards, and cast iron gutters and downpipes. The doorway contains a rectangular timber sheeted door surmounted by a radially glazed semi-circular fanlight in a timber frame, recessed in a semi-circular arched opening, with a concrete doorstep level with a concrete paved path. The south side of the porch contains a rectangular timber window, a sliding sash of 6 over 6 with horns, similar to those of the main elevation; the north side is blank.

Extending to each side of the house, set back very slightly, are curved screen walls of basalt rubble with rhyolite copings. These extend horizontally out from the gables to contain a flat-arched rectangular timber sheeted door each, then ramp down to square end piers of squared basalt rubble with splayed rhyolite caps. The piers are linked at the front by decorative wrought iron railings on low basalt rubble plinth walls with rhyolite copings. A central pedestrian gate opposite the front doorway is of similar ironwork to the railings, with cast iron urn finials to the posts.

The north elevation comprises a blank gable of the main block with a later two-storey return extending to the left. The north gable is rendered and painted as the entrance front, with similar quoins to the extremities but no plinth, and a cast iron downpipe returning from the entrance front. The overhanging eaves feature decorative timber barge boards containing Gothic arched arcading. The north wall of the rear return is set back slightly: smooth cement render, lined and blocked, with quoins to the left-hand extremity and a projecting eaves course, all unpainted. Two windows, one to each floor, are timber sashes as those of the main entrance front, with projecting concrete cills unpainted. The roof is slated as the main block, with cast iron gutter and downpipe.

The rear elevation consists of a double-pile twin-gabled full-width two-storey rear return projecting from the main front block, added in the 1990s. The wall is rendered as the north side of the rear return. The overhanging eaves to the twin gables feature decorative arcaded timber barge boards as those of the main front block. A cast iron downpipe from a hopper at the central valley and a cast iron soil pipe are present. A small chimney on the left-hand rear gable is rendered as the chimneys on the front, with one modern red pot. The gable to the left contains a small window to the first floor above a projecting rear porch. This first floor window is a rectangular timber fixed light, 6-pane, incorporating Gothic arched tracery, set in plain reveals with an unpainted concrete cill. The porch is open, with walls of smooth render, lined and blocked, incorporating a small lock-up to the left. Its lean-to roof is slated as the main block, with flush verges, cast iron gutter and downpipe, and a tongued and grooved sheeted underside with a concrete floor surface. The rear entrance to the house within the porch is a rectangular timber sheeted half-door; a small window to the right is sashed 4 over 4 with horns. A rectangular timber sheeted door serves the lock-up within the porch. The rear roof of the main front block is slated as the entrance front. The gable to the right contains two windows, one to each floor, sashed as those of the entrance front, with unpainted concrete cills.

The south elevation comprises the south gable of the main front block with a two-storey return extending to the right. The south gable is similar to the north gable but also contains two windows, one to each floor, and a cast iron soil pipe. Windows are sashed as those of the entrance front: 6 over 6 with horns to the first floor and a smaller 4 over 4 with horns to the ground floor. The south side of the rear return is similar to the north side, including two windows, with quoins to the right-hand extremity.

The rear faces of the screen walls to the front are of basalt rubble, with roughly cement rendered splayed reveals to the recessed doors.

The house stands in a rural area within the grounds of a large country house estate, facing onto an estate road. It is set back slightly with a small front area of grass and pavings enclosed by the flanking screen walls and front boundary railings. To the rear is a single-storey basalt rubble and slated outbuilding linked to side boundary walls to the rear and side yard. The yard surface is concrete, and boundary walls to the yard are of roughly coursed basalt rubble with rendered copings. The wall on the south side contains a vehicular gateway comprising a pair of square piers of roughly squared basalt rubble with rendered caps but no gate. The wall on the north side contains a small pedestrian gate of rectangular sheeted timber.

The outbuilding is of basalt rubble with a slated roof, cast iron gutter and downpipes. The south gable contains a large rectangular doorway with a pair of sheeted timber garage doors. The west elevation contains three sheeted doors and two timber windows: one sashed 3 over 3 with horns, the other altered to contain louvres. The north gable contains a small rectangular window opening now boarded up and a rectangular sheeted door to a small chamber extending to the left. The east elevation contains a sheeted timber door and two small outshot chambers. The chamber to the left has an open doorway approached through a small enclosed area fronted by a rubble screen wall.

Lawns extend to the sides of the house, fronted by hedges, and to the rear of the outbuilding, with mature trees beyond on all sides.