The Hill, 169 Bangor Road, Holywood, Co. Down, BT18 0ET

The Hill, 169 Bangor Road, Holywood

The Hill is a detached, asymmetrical two-storey three-bay house built around 1905 in the Domestic Revival style, designed by architect Henry Seaver and constructed by contractors H. & J. Martin. It sits within extensive mature grounds on an elevated site on the south side of Bangor Road, to the east of Holywood. The Irish Builder records the commencement of building as 1907, with completion in 1908. The house is a fine and well-preserved example of Seaver's work, and its detailing reflects the high standard of craftsmanship characteristic of Belfast at the height of its ocean liner industry — a connection made tangible by the fact that its first occupant, F. L. Heyn, was head of the shipping firm G. Heyn and Sons.

Architectural Overview

The house is square on plan, with a two-storey annexe extension joined to the main block by a single-storey link, and a garage to the south. The roof is hipped and tiled, with tall red brick chimneystacks featuring geometric detailing to the shafts and flat caps with multiple pots. Rainwater goods are profiled cast iron, carried on projecting timber eaves over paired corbel brackets on the principal elevations; exposed rafter tails are used elsewhere. Ground floor walling to the principal elevations is red brick in stretcher bond, finished with a header course, while the remainder is roughcast. The first floor of the gabled bays features structural half-timbering — an unusual treatment in the Northern Ireland context and particularly noteworthy — with slightly oversailing sandstone corbel brackets. Windows throughout are painted timber side-hung casements with sandstone sills; those in the half-timbered bays have multi-pane toplights.

Principal (West) Elevation

The entrance front faces west and has an opening at each floor in each of its three bays. It is dominated by a large porte cochere at the centre: a leaded canopy with a roof lantern, carried on ashlar sandstone piers with filleted corners, and enclosed to the upper portion by multi-pane glazed timber-framed screens over panelled squinches supported on corbel blocks. The entrance itself is slightly recessed and comprises an ornate painted metal-framed door with decorative screens over glazed panels, with matching sidelights, all set within a polished oak frame and reached by three stone steps. The projecting gabled right bay has windows glazed to all sides at each floor. The left bay has a canted bay window at ground floor level.

North (Garden) Elevation

The garden elevation is symmetrical, arranged around a recessed entrance porch at the top of stone steps. The porch is fronted by a timber entrance screen with a plain entablature and arched central section carried on timber piers, enclosed to either side by square-section railings with heart detailing. Within the porch, a round-headed panelled and glazed entrance door is set within a deep chamfered reveal to the right, detailed with ashlar sandstone voussoirs and carved plinth blocks. To its left is a cambered-head window. At first floor level, the centre has a large plain glazed horizontal window with casement openings to either side. The gabled side bays are identical to one another and have bowed bay windows at ground floor level.

East (Rear) Elevation and South Elevation

The east elevation has a brick string course between floors, irregular fenestration, and is abutted by a small flat-roofed kitchen extension and a lean-to glazed rear porch. There are French doors with a multi-pane toplight and a cambered-head window at ground floor level on the right side. The south elevation is abutted at ground floor by the link block connecting to the annexe, and has two windows at first floor level.

Annexe, Garage and Petrol Pump

The annexe extension is detailed to match the main house, including a dormer, and is fronted by a timber canopy glazed in the manner of the main porte cochere. This canopy is supported on two sandstone columns without capitals, and the threshold is tiled. The principal window is cambered-head, and at ground floor level there are glazed timber entrance doors and a large picture window. Adjoining the annexe to the south is a square-plan single-storey garage with a pyramid roof, a small chimney matching the house in character, cambered-head casements, and three painted sheeted-timber sliding garage doors to the south and east, each with ventilation slits to the top. There is a petrol pump to the east side.

Setting and Grounds

The house is set back from the road on an elevated site within extensive mature grounds comprising lawns, terraces and woodland. To the south is a detached single-storey garage and kennel block with a hipped tiled roof overhanging on a series of plain buttresses. The house is approached from the road by a sweeping tarmacadam drive leading to a forecourt; the main gateway consists of a pair of sandlime brick piers with ornate modern cast iron gates bearing the initials 'BE'. At the north-east corner of the garden, where it meets the road, is a pair of original Arts and Crafts style timber gates, each inset with timber lettering reading 'The Hill'. These gates form part of the listed extent of the building.

Historical Background

The house first appears in the records in 1909 as the residence of F. L. Heyn, head of the shipping firm G. Heyn and Sons, with J. Horner Haslett as leaseholder. The initial valuation was £156, later reduced on appeal to £146. Valuation records give an actual construction cost of £3,250. The ground floor at that time comprised a closet and cloakroom, drawing room, sitting room, dining room, three pantries, an invalid's room, kitchen, scullery, servants' room, larder, and dairy. The first floor contained seven bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dressing room, a hot air press, two WCs, a housemaid's closet, a small sitting room, and two servants' bedrooms. The attic provided two further servants' bedrooms. A motor house and conservatory were also shown on the original ground plan.

G. Heyn and Sons, trading as the Head Line Ulster Steamship Company Ltd, was founded in 1877 by James and Frederick Heyn, sons of Gustavus Heyn, formerly the Prussian consul in Belfast. The company ran services to the east coast of Canada, the Far East, Europe, and Baltic ports. From 1896 they served New Orleans, and in 1917 they took over the Lord Line, which had operated sailings from Belfast and Dublin to Cardiff, Baltimore, Rotterdam to Galveston, and Cardiff to Montreal and Quebec. When the Great Lakes were opened to foreign deep-sea vessels, the Head Line established services there too. In 1967 Ulster Steamship Company took over the Donaldson Line and traded as Head-Donaldson Line. In 1979 their last ship was sold and the Head-Donaldson services were absorbed by Canadian Pacific.

After 1933, the house is recorded as occupied by Helen B. Heyn. By that time the accommodation had been reorganised: the ground floor comprised a hall, four reception rooms, kitchen, scullery, servants' hall, two pantries, and a cloakroom; the upper floor had six bedrooms, a dressing room, two bathrooms, four maids' bedrooms, and a maids' bathroom. The house had its own electricity generator, with fires and cooking fuelled by gas and water supplied from reservoirs and a well. Additional facilities included a chauffeur's room and washhouse, a revolving summerhouse, and a flagstaff. The grounds at this period contained a rose garden and a tennis lawn, as well as a corrugated iron byre for two cows with a loft over, and three corrugated iron henhouses. Some of the surrounding land was grazed and some was in plantation.