Mount Royal House, Marine Drive, Donaghadee, Co. Down

Mount Royal House is a derelict, two-storey late Victorian villa dating from c.1890, located on the west side of Marine Drive, southeast of Donaghadee town centre. The house presents an informal style and a roughly square plan. The east-facing front facade features a large, full-height projecting gabled bay to the left and a two-storey, flat-roofed corner bay to the right. A single-storey, flat-roofed porch, containing the entrance, sits between these bays. A further full-height gabled bay is present on the south facade; the north and rear facades are simpler in design. Window openings are generally tall and narrow, with segmental and elliptical arch heads, moulded architraves, keystones, and fluted pilasters. Many ground-floor openings are currently boarded, while others have been replaced with PVC frames. The entrance doorway and a large window on the ground floor of the front projecting gabled bay are also boarded. The facade is finished in plain render, with moulded cill courses, parapets with cornicing, and a moulded ‘roundel’ with lettering above the gable of the front projecting bay. The roof is gabled, with Bangor blue slates, red clay ridge tiles, cresting, and remnants of finials. Two rendered chimney stacks feature corbelling. The building remains derelict and is situated within a conservation area. The architect remains unknown, though the property was occupied until recently.