Rosebank, 8 Millisle Road, Donaghadee, Co Down

Rosebank is a large, largely intact two-storey house with attic and single and two-storey wings, probably originating in the later 17th century (possibly around 1670–80), substantially renovated and extended in the 1770s–90s, and most recently restored and extended in 1997–98. It stands within a conservation area to the south of Donaghadee town centre, set back from the east side of the Millisle Road at the end of a large expanse of lawn that was once a formally planned garden.

The front (south-west) elevation of the original dwelling projects approximately 300mm and is largely symmetrical and gabled. At its centre is a four-panelled front door framed by a Doric columned doorcase with entablature, fluted frieze and cornice. To either side of this central section are two sliding sash windows at ground floor level, and five matching equally spaced sliding sash windows at first floor — all with Georgian glazing panes. To the left and right of the central section are two-storey lean-to bays, which appear to be shown on what is believed to be a pictorial map of Donaghadee dating from around 1700. At ground floor level these bays each have one large central window opening flanked by two narrower openings; directly above each is a Diocletian window. The openings in the left-hand bay are blocked, while those to the right are glazed — Georgian panes to the lower opening and no astragals to the upper. The current owner has suggested that these Diocletian windows, apparently in place by at least 1700, may represent the earliest use of this design anywhere in the British Isles.

To the outer sides of these lean-to bays appear to be single-storey gabled projections, each with one tall sliding sash window. The projection to the left is in fact the high-ceilinged ballroom, added around 1790, and its large window lights a double-volume entrance hall. To the left of this left-hand projection is a short wall with a semi-circular headed opening containing a timber pass door. The north-west facade of the single-storey section has no openings but carries a rendered chimney stack at the apex of the gable. The upper part of the original house is visible over the roofline here and has two sliding sash windows with Georgian panes and a chimney stack at the apex of its gable. What appears to be the right-hand single-storey gabled projection is in fact a recently constructed two-storey house, built in 1997–98.

The rear elevation is more complex, comprising four distinct sections. To the far right is the rear of the ballroom, which has two tall sliding sash windows. To its left is a double hipped-roofed projection, probably dating from around 1770–80, which is three storeys in height and features a variety of medium-width, narrow, round-headed and tripartite windows, all with Georgian panes. To the left of this is a two-storey bow-fronted projection, probably of the 1780s, with tall sliding sash windows at ground floor and shorter sliding sash windows at first floor, all with Georgian panes; a tall chimney stack rises from the left gable. This bow projection has a half-cone shaped roof. To the left of the bow-fronted extension is the rear of the recently constructed house, which includes a flat-roofed extension with one drop-hung tripartite window with Georgian panes; the flat roof serves as a balcony to the upper room, accessed through modern French windows with margins and a barrel-vaulted half-dormered roof over a plain fanlight. To the far right of this section is a very small square window.

The south-east facade has, to the left, a simple symmetrical gable with a plain stone surround to the central six-panelled door, which is lit by a shallow two-pane fanlight. To the left and right of this doorway are drop-hung windows with Georgian panes, and at first floor are two matching evenly spaced windows. To the right of the gable is the blank side elevation of the flat-roofed extension, which has a curved screen wall to the side of the balcony, with wrought-iron railings apparently intended to be added to the remainder.

All walls and chimney stacks are rendered. Roofing throughout is in Bangor blue slate, and rainwater goods are cast iron.

The early history of Rosebank is not entirely clear. Most authorities have agreed that the building is essentially 17th century in origin, and the present owner has suggested it may even have been constructed around the remains of a medieval structure. The house was probably built by the Montgomery family, Earls of Mount Alexander, who were the owners of Donaghadee, though it is noted as unusual that they would have chosen to erect such a substantial dwelling so close to the existing local family seat, the Manor House. Rosebank, complete with its lean-to, buttress-like side wings, is shown on the pictorial map of Donaghadee believed to date from around 1700 — originally attributed to 1780, but now thought to be earlier on account of its crude style and the way its depictions of buildings, particularly the church, contradict what is known of them at that later date. The date on the map is now read as probably 1700, a stroke from the figure 7 having passed through the first zero to give the appearance of an 8. With the death of the last of the Montgomery Earls in 1757, the Countess of Mount Alexander bequeathed the Donaghadee estate to her cousins, the De la Cherois family. When the Countess died in 1771, the estate passed to Daniel De la Cherois, son of Samuel. A relation of Daniel's — possibly a brother — named Nicholas De la Cherois appears to have lived at Rosebank during this period and to have renovated the house, adding the Doric columned doorcase and generally Georgianising the building. During the 1780s–90s he also appears to have added the large half-cone roofed projection to the rear and the ballroom to the north side. After the later and more extensive remodelling of the Manor House, the De la Cherois family appear to have vacated Rosebank, and the property passed through a number of subsequent occupants, including the locally prominent Leslie family and the Clarke family. One member of the latter, Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke, was born at Rosebank in 1854 and went on to achieve recognition as a writer — under the pen name Sarah Grand — and as a prominent early or proto-feminist. For much of the 20th century the house was rented out and was commandeered as soldiers' quarters during the Second World War. When acquired by the current owners in 1969 it was largely derelict. Since then much of the fabric has been restored. The most recent works extended the southern lean-to wing to create a self-contained dwelling.