Laurel Cottage, 50 Shanes Street, Randalstown, Co. Antrim, BT41 2AA

Laurel Cottage was a one and a half storey, single bay, direct entry thatched house with a single storey lean-to annex, constructed in the early 19th century (circa 1820-1839). Located on Shanes Street in Randalstown, less than half a mile from the town centre when approaching from Belfast, the building faced south-west and was attached by its north-west gable to a modern one and a half storey house.

The thatch roof was finished with flax and featured three rows of scallops at the ridge and one at the eaves. At the north-west end, the thatch terminated against the adjoining modern building, while at the opposite side it finished with a tiled parapet and cement fillet above which rose a corbelled brick chimneystack. The lean-to roof of the scullery annex was finished with a concrete coping at the front and sides.

The external walls were of whitened roughcast with a black painted plinth that projected at the front and terminated at the eaves with a deep corbel course. The building sat on hard standing on all sides and was fronted by shrub planting and grass behind a ranch style fence with stained finish.

Access was gained through a modern decorative metal gate hung on large unequally-sized pillars. The entrance was protected by an open timber-framed porch with dwarf supporting walls, a corrugated roof, plastic rainwater goods and a pair of ornamental lanterns. A timber gate with uprights at the south-east side provided access to the rear.

The main living room was lit by a plain glazed, timber-framed vertically-sliding window without sash stops, set within a raised cement surround with an exposed frame and traditional depth sill. A similar window lit the scullery annex, with a further plain window in the gable. The rear living room window was similarly detailed but with sashes divided into two panes vertically and provided with sash stops. The upper storey accommodation was lit in the east gable by a window with horizontal division of the sashes and sash stops.

A raised area with whitened masonry flower boxes stood in front of the annex, with the space between this and the entrance porch raised slightly and paved with black-coloured hexagonal slabs. The four-panel entrance door featured upper glazed panels.

The house appears on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1829 and the 1858 revision, where it forms the most south-westerly unit of a pair of buildings. It lay within the Randalstown Conservation Area in the townland of Ballygrooby.

The building was demolished around the end of January 2005 and the site is now cleared.