Gate Lodge, 4 Coach Road, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1PP

Gate Lodge, 4 Coach Road, Portaferry

A single storey ornée-influenced gate lodge of circa 1850, set at the main north-east entrance to the Portaferry House demesne on the west side of Deerpark Road, a short distance north of Portaferry. The building was substantially extended to the rear in 1983 with modern amenities whilst retaining much of its original charm and character.

The front (north) elevation is asymmetrical, comprising a recessed bay with porch to the left and a projecting bay to the right. The recessed bay contains a plain timber sheeted door on its left side and a casement window with centre mullion and centre horizontal astragal to both panes, with stone cill, on the right. The porch roof consists of part of the large main roof overhang, supported on three octagonal wooden posts with a timber lined ceiling, and is open ended to the left. The bay to the right contains a centred casement window with stone cill. The east elevation comprises the side of the 1983 extension to the left and the gable of the original lodge to the right. The extension has a centred rear door and a casement door to the left, with a similar casement window to the right on the corner of a smaller flat roofed extension set within the angle between the larger extension and the original building. The gable of the original lodge contains a small casement window on a stone cill. All extension windows have modern slim concrete cills.

The south elevation consists of the blank gable of the extension and a side of the small flat roofed extension with corner window. The west elevation comprises the gable of the original building containing a mullioned and transomed bay window with hipped roof, finished in Bangor blue slates and lead flashing, and a side of the extension with a small high level casement window to the left and a larger casement window to the right, all with slim concrete cills.

The façade of the original portion is unrendered and whitewashed. The extension is finished in roughcast and painted. Both sections have pitched roofs with Bangor blue slates and lead flashing to ridges. A chimney rises from the centre of the original lodge's roof, comprising narrow twin square stacks set at an angle to appear diamond-shaped, with matching pots. The building features a large overhang to verge and eaves with timber panelling to soffits and decorative barge boards. The north elevation has no gutter; PVC gutters and downspouts serve the rear.

Historical records show that an entrance to the Portaferry House demesne was marked on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, though the original drive from this entrance headed south before curving west and north-westwards towards the house. The original gate lodge and possibly the original gates were initially set not at the roadside (now Deerpark Road) but further along the original drive to the south. By 1860 the drive had been reorientated in a south-westerly direction and the present lodge constructed. The building was re-roofed at the time of the 1983 extension work.