3 Lorne Cottages, Station Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 0BS

3 Lorne Cottages, Station Road, Holywood, Co Down BT18 0BS

A picturesque end-terrace cottage lodge of one-and-a-half storeys with two bays, built in 1875. The building demonstrates superior design and detailing quality, representing a fine example of its type. Although the exterior retains much of its original architectural character, little internal detailing survives. The cottage forms an important group with the adjoining terrace and Lorne House, unified by its original boundary wall.

Built as part of the Lorne House estate, the cottage is situated at the south entrance to Lorne House. The structure is square-on-plan with a projecting porch and rear return. The steeply pitched roof is covered in natural slate with overhanging eaves and a central band of fish-scale tiles; terracotta ridge tiles crown the roof. Chimneystacks comprise sandstone quoins with offset and plinth, topped by three terracotta pots. Half-round cast-iron rainwater goods serve the roof.

The walls are yellow brick over a projecting ashlar plinth. The principal elevation faces north. Ground floor windows are 2/2 timber-framed sliding sash with horns, set within sandstone ashlar surrounds with lintels beneath brick segmental arches and chamfered sills. A dormer window with a pointed head contains 2/2 timber-framed panes; the lower panes operate on hinges.

The central projecting porch is the focal point of the principal elevation. It is accessed by five walled stone steps positioned at the left side and features a pointed arch entrance with sandstone ashlar quoins and surround. A moulded plaque depicting a hog's head profile adorns the porch, which is completed by decorative bargeboards and a finial. The door is herringbone-sheeted timber fitted with brass furniture and includes a pointed arch transom light. The porch is flanked by two 2/2 sliding sash windows; a skylight sits above the left window, and a dormer window with decorative bargeboard and finial occupies the right. Walled steps to the right are abutted by a walled flowerbed.

The west elevation is partly obscured by a flat roof extension containing two timber-framed oculus windows flanking the centre; these are multi-paned and set into decorative brick surrounds. The north wall is blank. The south wall contains a modern half-paned timber door. The rear south elevation is largely obscured. A gable wall of the adjoining building abuts the east side, which is itself abutted by a rear extension.

A raised stone patio extends the length of the terrace, covered by a projecting canopy supported on cast-iron columns. A modern half-panelled timber door is accessed via a single concrete step.

The property is set in leafy surroundings, separated from the small road leading to Lorne House by a rock-faced ashlar wall with coping and piers. A decorative modern cast-iron railing with fleur-de-lis detailing tops the boundary. The front is surfaced with pebbles. A communal garden with hedgerow lies to the rear.

The cottages were built by Henry Campbell in 1875 as accommodation for favoured estate workers near the entrance to his mansion Lorne, completed in 1865. Campbell, a partner and director of the Mossley Mills linen thread manufacturers and of Messrs Gunning and Campbell, flax spinners of North Howard Street, retired from business in 1873 and commissioned Lorne House to designs by architect John Boyd; the cottages may have been designed by the same architect. The house was named Lorne after the traditional home of Clan Campbell in Scotland. On his death, Campbell left an endowment of £200,000 to found Campbell College at Belmont.

The cottages are dated 1875 and first appear in valuation records in 1876, where all three were listed as "house and yard" valued at £8 each. In 1876 all three were vacant, indicating recent construction. Subsequent years show frequent changes of occupier, consistent with use as tied accommodation. The landlord was always the occupier of Lorne House: by 1900 Alexander Mateer; by 1906 Henry C Craig; and by 1914 James Gamble. Valuation remained unchanged through to 1930.