31 Farnham Road, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 3SW

Seaview, 31 Farnham Road, Bangor

Seaview is an imposing symmetrical detached house, originally built around 1818 as a farmhouse and extensively remodelled around 1845. It stands on the corner of Farnham Road and Downshire Road, to the west of Bangor town centre, and remains in use as a private dwelling. Much of the fabric from the original 1818 construction survives — evidenced by the thickness of the walls and the height of the ceilings — overlaid with later Victorian detailing applied principally to the exterior. The way the older farmhouse was absorbed into the grander Victorian scheme is of particular interest, demonstrating the building's layered development. The house reflects the growing commercial success of Bangor from the early 19th century and the increasing prosperity of its inhabitants.

Architecture and Exterior

The house is two storeys, three bays wide, rectangular on plan, and finished in smooth painted render (stucco). It has single-storey castellated wings to either side of the main block and a double-height and two-storey return to the rear. The roof is hipped natural slate, with two centrally placed chimneystacks carrying tall terracotta pots and moulded caps. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods are fixed on corbelled eaves.

The windows throughout are replacement 6-over-6 timber sliding sash with horns, set beneath label moulds with decorative stops and projecting painted masonry sills; those to the rear returns are also replacement sliding sash. Stucco escutcheons are positioned above the ground-floor windows on the main elevation, and giant pilasters mark the corners.

The principal elevation faces east and is five openings wide. At its centre is a segmental-headed entrance: a six-panelled timber door with brass door furniture, accessed via a deep tiled step, with a stained glass fanlight and side-lights set within a timber moulded surround, framed by Doric pilasters and an archivolt. The flanking single-storey castellated wings each feature blind arched niches, hood moulds, and keyblocks.

The south elevation has a single window at first-floor level to the left. The west elevation has two first-floor window openings and an etched glass double-leaf door at ground-floor level to the left; a catslide roof to the left contains a single uPVC window and abuts a two-storey return, which connects westward to the circa 1818 section of the house. The exposed section of the rear return contains, to the right, a diminutive window opening at the far right, a wall-head dormer to the centre, and double-leaf doors below. To the left it is abutted by a double-height pitched-roof return containing timber double-leaf doors, a single window opening, and a modern timber door to the extreme right. The circa 1818 block to the west has two replacement sash windows to each floor at the gable; an exposed section to the left has a large multi-paned window at ground-floor level. The north elevation has a single opening at first-floor level and is abutted at ground floor by a single-storey extension with a catslide roof, containing two simple timber doors.

Setting

The front of the house is lawned, with a double entrance and paved driveway. A large garden lies to the south, enclosed by hedgerow. The boundary to the road on the east side is formed by a hedgerow and a rubble-stone wall, with painted masonry gate piers with pointed caps at both entrances, each supporting a large cast-iron gate.

History

The land on which Seaview stands was leased to Jane Rabb (also recorded as Robb) by William Orr of Bangor in 1818. A house was subsequently built by Rabb's son-in-law, William Richey, at some point before the first Ordnance Survey. One secondary source states that the house dates to the reign of George III, which would place its construction very shortly after the land was acquired, and information supplied by a former owner supports an 1818 date. That same owner suggested there was an earlier structure on the site — a single-storey vernacular dwelling believed to date from the late 18th century, which is said to form the present kitchen and pantry areas — though map evidence does not support this: the 1833 Ordnance Survey shows a single block without returns.

The house appears uncaptioned on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 as a simple rectangular block. It is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828–40) as the residence of William Richie (Surgeon), with the house, offices, and yard valued at £11. A Dr William Ritchey is also recorded in the fieldbook as having premises at 143 Main Street. In her will of 11 October 1845, Jane Rabb bequeathed to her son-in-law William Richey "the two lower of my fields, on the lowest of which he has built his house called 'Seaview'." By the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, the house had gained a return and was captioned 'Seaview'. It has been proposed that the house was rebuilt or remodelled around 1845, at the time of Jane Rabb's bequest. In Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), 'Sea View' is listed as occupied by William Richey, leased from Lord Bangor, and valued at £16, subsequently raised to £17. The valuer noted that "This house is let for the season to bathers," suggesting Richey may not have resided there year-round.

In 1860, William Richey and his wife Jane purchased the land from William Orr, the grandson of the original leaseholder. The valuation was raised in 1869 to £24 10s, indicating further improvements to the dwelling. William Richey was a surgeon who died in 1890; he is unlikely to be the same man who built the house and was perhaps a son. On his death, Richey left all his property to his wife, Caroline Augusta Richey (formerly Lamont). Dr Richey was a figure of some standing in Bangor and was elected as one of the first Town Commissioners in 1864, though it is not clear whether this was the elder or younger Richey.

In the years following, the property was let to tenants. By 1899 it is recorded as the residence of Joseph McMacken, leasing from the Representatives of William Richey; in 1901 it was occupied by Robert Wilson, leasing from Caroline Ritchie [sic], widow of William. Caroline Richey died in 1906, directing her executors to sell the house by public sale to the highest bidder. It was purchased for £755 by Alexander Brown, who owned it outright, with the house valued at £18 and the outbuildings at £6. A succession of owners followed: James Hunter Barrett (1914, purchased for £625), Hugh Morrow (1919), Percy B. Harris (1921), Sarah McHoon (1922, purchased for £1,450), and William Mathers (1924, purchased for £1,600). Mrs Mathers sold the house to James E. Maxwell and Denis F. Whealer in 1950. The house remains in residential use.