Killaire House, 22 Killaire Road, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 1EY

Killaire House

A detached two-storey sandstone ashlar house built around 1870, located on the south shores of Belfast Lough at the end of Killaire Road, Carnalea, Bangor.

The building comprises a rectangular main block with gabled end wings and an L-shaped rear extension. Single-storey canted bays project to the south and west elevations, with a single-storey ashlar sandstone extension and outbuildings to the east. The pitched natural slate roof features blue and black angled ridge tiles. Ashlar chimneystack have dentilled plinths and terracotta pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods are mounted on projecting stone eaves, and decorative bargeboards with fretwork panels to the gable apexes are supported on timber brackets. The walling is ashlar sandstone on a chamfered plinth.

Windows throughout are 1/1 timber sliding sash with projecting sandstone sills. Some have projecting entablature and moulded cornices. The canted bays contain segmental-arched windows divided by semi-engaged columns with acanthus leaf capitals. These feature stilted segmental arches with continuous hood moulds, surmounted by parapets with decorative cast-iron railings.

The principal south elevation features gabled bays to left and right. The left gable contains a bowed bay to ground floor with paired windows to first floor. The right gable has a window to attic and first floor, with paired windows below. The entrance bay has a stilted segmental-arched stairwell window framed by an archivolt supported on semi-engaged columns, with two diminutive leaded stained glass windows to the ground floor. To the right of the entrance is a single first-floor window and paired windows below. The entrance doorway has a stilted segmental arch and archivolt; a double-panelled timber door with brass furniture surmounted by a transom light is framed by semi-engaged columns with acanthus leaf capitals and surmounted by a heavy cornice hood on twin corbels with a panelled frieze and a pair of plain ball pinnacles on plinths. A small square window has been inserted above the doorway. The entrance is accessed by two stone steps enclosed by dwarf walls, each painted with a masonry lion.

The west elevation has a projecting gable to the left containing a bowed bay with a paired window above. To the right are two windows to each floor. The north elevation has a slightly projecting gabled left end with a tripartite mullioned window to ground floor and paired windows to first floor. Each cheek has a window to each floor, with two further windows to each floor in the remainder (the ground floor right window being paired). A recessed bay to the far left contains three asymmetrically arranged windows, with a multi-paned half-panelled timber door and transom light to the right. The east elevation has a single window to the gable, abutted by single-storey extensions to left and right; the left extension has a half-panelled timber door and replacement windows.

The house sits in mature grounds on a tarmacadamed driveway to the southeast, accessed via decorative sandstone gate piers and iron gates. A lawned area fronts the house, with a substantial stone retaining wall to the west and north bearing a low decorative balustrade and decorated with free-standing stone urns. The original coach house and gate lodge to the east have been converted into separate dwellings. A mature garden lies to the rear.