Bush House, Bush Road, Antrim, Co Antrim, BT41 2QB

Bush House is a substantial two-storey residence of considerable architectural interest, with a long two-storey rear return and extensive outbuildings. The main entrance faces west onto Bush Road.

Entrance Front (West Elevation)

The west elevation presents a symmetrical composition with a central entrance set within a projecting single-storey porch, flanked by two windows to each side. The walls are constructed of snecked basalt with square basalt quoins at the extremities, and red brick block surrounds to windows and the entrance doorway. The roof is hipped and covered with Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses. The eaves overhang with a white-painted wooden soffit supported on shaped timber brackets, and fitted with moulded cast iron guttering.

The porch is built of similar walling to the main block and features a moulded granite cornice with plain blocking course. The door itself is a modern rectangular unit, glazed and panelled, set within a glazed and panelled timber screen with sidelights and fanlight. A concrete doorstep with a later tarmac ramp approach leads to the entrance, with curving plinth walls flanking the ramp and surmounted by iron railings. The side walls of the porch are blank; the left-hand wall carries a cast iron downpipe and moulded cast iron hopper.

Above the porch is a central triplet of semi-circular arcaded windows. These are semi-circular headed timber sliding sashes, vertically hung, glazed 3 over 2 with margin lights and fitted with horns, set in smooth cement rendered reveals. Two windows are positioned to each side of the porch and to each side of the first-floor triplet. These are rectangular timber sliding sashes, vertically hung, 6 over 6 panes, with horns, set in smooth cement rendered reveals with projecting stone cills. The windows have flat arched brickwork heads, though the extreme left ground floor window has been rebuilt with a soldier course of rustic brick.

The north end of the front block rises two storeys with similar walling, roofing and eaves treatment. A PVC downpipe is fitted to the right-hand side. There is one window to each floor, rectangular sashes matching those on the entrance front in similar surrounds, except that the ground floor window lacks brickwork to its head and appears to have a painted concrete lintel.

Extending to the left and set back from the main front block, abutting the rear corner, is a basalt rubble screen wall enclosing the rear yard, which links with a gabled two-storey outbuilding. The screen wall has sandstone coping and contains a rectangular ledged timber door set in a wooden frame with new red brick surround. To the right of the doorway are two small high-level rectangular timber fixed lights with brick block dressings, sandstone lintels and cement rendered recessed cills.

Extending to the right of the main front block is a single-storey flat-roofed block in two stages, built of coursed basalt with red brick dressings to openings and concrete coping to the eaves line. It contains two small rectangular windows with metal frames and concrete lintels, and a rectangular doorway opening to the right of the windows giving access to a recessed open porch. The porch has a concrete floor and smooth rendered walls, with a rectangular 4-panel door. A long basalt rubble garden wall abuts the side of this single-storey block and extends southwards.

Rear Elevation

The rear elevation of the house has a roof slated as before, with similar soffit and brackets to the overhanging eaves. Two chimneys rise from the roof, smooth cement rendered with moulded cornice and two original earthenware pots of octagonal section to each chimney. The wall to the right of the rear return has smooth cement render to the upper portion above basalt rubble. Lean-to single-storey outbuildings built against the screen wall of the yard obscure the ground floor of the front block.

The rear return is two-storey and comprises a long double-pile block with a later hipped roof extension to the east. The north elevation of the original return has a roof slated as the main house with sprocketed eaves. Two chimneys are constructed of red brick with projecting stone cornice and blocking course; two original octagonal earthenware pots remain on the intermediate chimney, whilst three modern red terracotta pots have been fitted to the chimney on the east gable. The walls are of basalt rubble with brick block dressings. Cast iron guttering is fitted, with cast iron and PVC downpipes and cast iron soil pipes.

The first floor has seven windows, all rectangular timber sliding sashes. The extreme left window is sashed 1 over 1 with horns; the next five are sashed 6 over 6 with horns; the extreme right window is sashed 6 over 6 without horns. The ground floor has three windows, all pairs of coupled rectangular timber sliding sashes, 1 over 1 with horns, set in segmental brick arches. Between the first and second windows from the left is an elliptically arched recess with brick dressings, containing a rectangular timber glazed and panelled door. The recess has smooth cement rendered walls and ceiling with a concrete floor. The east gable shows a short return visible in basalt rubble.

Extending to the east is the later two-storey extension in purple brick with red brick block dressings to windows and a double eaves course of angled red brick. The hipped roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with two roof ventilators of octagonal section, featuring semi-circular headed alternate panels and openings, ogee domed tops and ball finials. Moulded cast iron guttering is fitted with cast iron downpipes and rectangular cast iron hoppers ornamented with raised quadrant motif.

The windows are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung with horns, glazed 1 over 1 and 6 over 6, and 4 over 4 to the ground floor; 6 over 6 and 4 over 4 to the first floor, with projecting concrete cills. A lean-to projecting entrance porch on the north side is constructed of purple and red brick matching the main walling, with a roof slated as before. Moulded cast iron guttering sits on an angled brick cornice or eaves course, with a downpipe partly cast iron and partly PVC on the left-hand side wall. The porch contains a rectangular timber glazed and panelled door with plain rectangular fanlight in the front face, and a window to the right sashed 4 over 4.

To the left of the porch is a projecting first-floor level link block connecting to the gable of the north wing outbuildings return. This is of similar brickwork to the eastern extension of the rear return, with a deep beam of pink-tinted concrete or smooth render and smooth rendered underside to the link block. The roof of the link block is slated as before with red ridge tiles. One window appears in each face of the link block: rectangular timber small-paned fixed lights set in red brick block dressings with projecting concrete cills.

At the eastern extremity of the north elevation is a later small single-storey projecting block of similar purple and red brickwork to the main walling with a flat concrete slab roof. One window in the north end is a rectangular metal fixed light with top-hung vent. The east gable of the eastern extension to the rear return is two-storey, of purple brick with angled red brick eaves courses and red brick block dressings to two doorways, one on each floor, the upper one reached by a steel fire escape stairway. Both doorways have modern flush panelled and glazed doors with plain rectangular fanlights.

South Elevation

The south elevation comprises, from left to right, the south end of the main front block of the house, the two-storey return, and the two-storey extension block. The south end of the main front block is similar to the north end with a similar first-floor window, but the ground floor is partly covered by a later single-storey porch to the rear of the small toilet block on the entrance front. The porch walls are of smooth cement render, lined, with projecting plinth, and a flat concrete slab roof with cast iron downpipe from a secret gutter. One window in the south face is a rectangular metal framed fixed light and side-hung casement with horizontal pane divisions. One doorway in the east face is rectangular timber glazed and panelled with plain rectangular fanlight.

The south elevation of the rear return is two-storey, seven windows wide to the original return, with a higher two-storey extension to the east. The original return is of roughly coursed snecked basalt rubble with roof slated as before to the main front block. Three chimneys rise from the ridge in red brick with plain stone projecting cornice and blocking course; three original octagonal earthenware pots remain on the first stack from the west, with two similar pots each to the other stacks.

The windows are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 6 over 6 without horns, except for the sixth window from west on the ground floor which is 8 over 8, and the seventh window from west on the ground floor which has horns. All windows have smooth cement rendered reveals and projecting stone cills (painted), with original brick block surrounds and flat arched heads. The roof overhangs with plain flat sheeted soffit and timber eaves board. Cast iron guttering and downpipe are fitted.

The south elevation of the later two-storey extension has walls of basalt rubble with angled red brick eaves courses or cornice, moulded cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipe, and cast iron waste pipes with rectangular cast iron hoppers ornamented with raised quadrant motif. The hipped roof is slated as before, with brick eaves course ramped up at the left-hand side from the eaves line of the original return block.

A projecting canted five-sided two-storey bay is constructed of purple brick with angled red brick eaves course and red brick dressings to windows. A terracotta finial, now painted black, tops the bay roof. The windows are all rectangular timber sliding sashes 6 over 6 with horns and projecting concrete cills.

Two doorways are present: one to the left of the projecting bay is rectangular timber glazed and panelled with glazed and panelled sidelights and three-pane rectangular fanlight, set in red brick block dressings with soldier course to the head. One to the right of the bay is a pair of modern glazed and panelled doors surmounted by a three-pane fanlight set in similar brick dressed opening as the previous doorway.

A concrete area extends along the whole south face of the rear return, bordered by a gravel path. A large lawn lies beyond within a walled garden.

Walled Garden

The walled garden is enclosed by a basalt rubble and fieldstone wall with rough cement coping. Three doorways pierce the wall: one in the west wall has a flat concrete lintel and old brick dressings to the jambs; one in the east wall has a segmental brick arch with brick jambs, containing a corrugated iron panelled sliding door to the outside. A third doorway is positioned in the south wall at the south-east corner, leading into a small garden store which projects on the outside face of the garden wall. This doorway has a rectangular ledged timber door set in old and new brick dressed jambs with flat arch head, with a window to the left being a rectangular timber sliding sash, 3 over 3 without horns. The shed is a simple store with rubble walls, cement floor and lean-to rafter roof.

A gabled garden house of 1930s appearance stands in the centre of the garden. It is open-fronted to each long side and contains bench seats. The roofs are covered with red tiles and the walls are rendered with drydash. Ocular windows appear in the gables with unusual horseshoe-like rendered surrounds.

Outbuildings

Single-storey outbuildings are built against the screen wall to the north of the main front block of the house. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with PVC gutter and downpipe. The walls are of basalt rubble and contain three rectangular timber ledged doors in wooden frames with red brick block dressings. One window to the left-hand side is a rectangular timber sliding sash, 6 over 3 without horns, with exposed sash boxes. The end wall of these single-storey outbuildings is of basalt rubble with gable above in red brick. Between the end of this block and the two-storey wing of outbuildings to the north is a steep fire escape stairway from the two-storey block.

The two-storey wing of outbuildings to the north of the rear yard of the house is slated with original flush rooflights on the north side. The walls are of roughly coursed basalt rubble with angled brick eaves course and moulded cast iron gutter with cast iron downpipes and soil pipe. The windows are rectangular metal framed casements with horizontal pane division, set in modern brick block surrounds with flat arched brick heads and projecting concrete cills. A rectangular flush timber glazed door is positioned in the centre of the west gable with modern red brick walled and flat concrete slab roofed open porch.

Projecting from the north side of the wing is a single-storey gabled projection with walls smooth cement rendered, lined and blocked, a red brick chimney on the gable, buttresses to corners and in the centre of each side, and metal framed windows as before. At the east end of the wing is a wide rectangular opening leading into the yard with rounded brick jambs and pink-tinted concrete or render to the lintel. The south elevation of the wing is of similar character to the north.

The wing returns southwards at the east end with a lower two-storey block of basalt rubble and brick dressings. Windows in the return of the wing are a mixture of new rectangular timber fixed lights with top-hung vents which have horns attached to give the appearance of sashed windows, later small-paned fixed lights, and original sashes. The east and south walls of the return are rendered with a drydash of blackstone chippings.

The eastern extension of the outbuildings wing is gabled and slated with original rooflights, a plain red brick south wall, and roughly coursed basalt rubble north wall and gable with crude brick dressings to openings.

Standing detached to the north of the outbuildings wing is a twin-gabled single-storey building. The eastern portion is smooth rendered, lined and blocked, whilst the western portion is in red brick with segmental arched openings containing a central door and segmental headed sashed windows 2 over 2. Red brick chimneys rise from the building, and a canted bay appears to the north gable of the brick block. A lean-to roofed extension to the south gable contains a rectangular metal window.

Setting

The building stands in a rural area facing a minor road and is set well back from it within its own extensive grounds, with a large lawn to the front bordered by mature trees. The approach is by a driveway from an entrance gateway which curves up to a tarmac parking area immediately in front of the building. The driveway continues around the north side to an extensive car park to the north. The grounds at the rear merge into the grounds of a new hospital. The walled garden to the south of the house is surrounded by a thickly wooded area. To the east of the rear return are single-storey gabled sheds of basalt rubble and of concrete blockwork with corrugated iron roofs, of no architectural interest.

Gatescreen

A set of decorative cast iron railings and end piers survives at the entrance. Each length of railing is shaped as a double curve and terminates at each end in an open square column of upright bars on a moulded base with lattice-work to top and bottom. The gates are missing.