31 Greenmount Road, Muckamore, Antrim, Co Antrim, BT41 4PX

31 Greenmount Road is an early 20th-century building of distinctive form and style, built around 1925 as a cottage for the gardener-instructor at Greenmount Agricultural College. It was designed under the direction of Roland Ingleby Smith, chief architect to the Government of Northern Ireland, with contractors T. McKee and Sons of Belfast. Although it has undergone some inappropriate alterations, the building retains architectural interest and enjoys a pleasant setting at an entrance to the agricultural college. Together with a similar but not identical building opposite, and other buildings elsewhere in the grounds in similar materials and architectural idiom by the same architect, it forms part of an interesting group.

The building is a 1½ and 2-storey house of asymmetrical plan, constructed in basalt rubble with sandstone dressings and steep pitched roofs. The roof is of Westmorland green slates in diminishing courses with flat soffits to overhanging eaves and a timber eaves board, cast iron gutters and downpipes throughout.

The main entrance faces west in the north elevation. The basalt rubble walls feature tooled edges to corners at extremities and to the corners of reveals to openings. A raised sandstone stringcourse runs at first floor cill level to the main 2-storey block. The central chimney is of roughly coursed basalt rubble with tooled edges to corners and a plain block cornice.

The north elevation contains two windows to the first floor of the 2-storey block: coupled rectangular timber 6-pane side-hung casements with the soffit of eaves to the head. Two windows to the ground floor are similar casements, with timber drip board, recessed cills and segmental headed flat arch to the head. All windows in the house are modern replacements.

Extending to the left-hand side, set well back from the main wall, is a lower 1½-storey block with most of the ground floor behind a curved screen wall enclosing a small yard. The screen wall is of similar basalt to the main house with sandstone block coping in line with the stringcourse to the east elevation. The west side of the yard wall contains a semi-elliptical archway with a rectangular ledged timber gate. The yard surface is concrete; inner walls are basalt rubble.

The north elevation of the house within the yard shows basalt rubble with a sandstone stringcourse and four square ventilation openings at the top of the north wall, presumably serving an original drying room in the loft above. Two recessed doorways are present: a rectangular ledged timber door to the left in a flat basalt arch, and a rectangular timber glazed and panelled door to the right set in a tongued and grooved sheeted screen in a segmental headed basalt flat arch. Cast iron gutters and downpipes are present.

Extending to the right-hand side is a lower 1½-storey block, set well back from the main wall to accommodate the main entrance in the west side of the 2-storey block. The roof is slated as on the main elevation and contains a small dormer window with rectangular timber coupled 4-pane casements and a partially flat roof. The walls are similar to the main block with a projecting sandstone stringcourse at doorhead height. Cast iron gutters and downpipes are present.

The main entrance in the west side of the 2-storey block contains a deeply recessed rectangular timber glazed and panelled door, stained and varnished, with a rusticated sandstone flat arch to the head which returns to form the stringcourse of the 1½-storey block.

The east elevation consists of the main 2-storey block with hipped roof and a lower 1½-storey block projecting forward centrally. The 1½-storey block has one window in the centre: rectangular timber coupled 4-pane casements, deeply recessed with rusticated sandstone block dressings to reveals, sandstone cill and rusticated flat arched sandstone head extending to each side to form a stringcourse. Below the cill is a shallow recessed panel of basalt stonework with tooled edges to reveals but rough finish to the ledge below. A modern flush rooflight is present in the roof above.

The rear elevation shows a central 2-storey block with lower 1½-storey blocks set back to each side. The 2-storey block has two windows to the first floor and two to the ground floor as on the north elevation. The 1½-storey block to the left is as on the north elevation, including the dormer window, with the addition of a ground floor window with coupled casements as previously but without dripboard and a sandstone stringcourse as head. The 1½-storey block to the right has four small square ventilation openings to the top of the wall and a rectangular door to the left, modern stained and varnished glazed 15-pane, set below a sandstone stringcourse as head.

The west elevation is similar to the east, with the addition of a modern timber plant box across the face of the cill, supported on three iron mounts.

The building stands in a rural area on a corner site facing onto an entrance road to the agricultural college. Directly opposite is a similar but not identical house built at the same time as part of an overall architectural composition. The building is approached by a short pedestrian path and a vehicular driveway off the entrance road, with a tarmac path across the main entrance and tarmac drive to the west. Lawns extend to the rear and east, with well-kept flower beds. The front and east boundary is formed by a black stained timber fence containing an original wrought iron pedestrian gate of geometrical design on iron posts and a pair of modern iron vehicular gates on steel posts to the driveway. A timber garage with modern metal door stands at the end of the driveway beyond the house. A metal oil tank on rendered plinth walls stands close to the rear elevation of the house to the east.

The building continues to be used as a staff residence for Greenmount College, though no longer specifically for the gardener-instructor. The listing extends to the house, walling and gate.