9 Bangor Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 0NU

9 Bangor Road, Holywood

A mid-19th century semi-detached house, built between 1834 and 1859 as one of a pair of villas, formerly known as Ballykeel. The building is two storeys with rendered walls and hipped roofs, though it has undergone extensive alterations that detract from its original character.

The west elevation, facing the main road approach, is three windows wide beneath a hipped roof of Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses, with red-toned ridge tiles to the main ridge and dark grey-toned tiles to the hipped roof. The wall is finished in smooth render, lined and blocked, with a slightly raised smooth frieze and projecting plinth. Oversailing eaves are supported on shaped timber brackets with white painted timber soffit. The guttering is moulded cast iron with one circular downpipe (partly PVC, partly cast iron) at the left-hand extremity, shared with the adjoining house, and one rectangular-section PVC downpipe to the right. A single rendered chimney with small block cornice carries six original octagonal stoneware pots. A gabled dormer with plain timber pilasters frames a semi-circular arched modern fixed upper light with opening lower light in PVC, topped by an open pediment with moulded timber barges and plain cheeks; the dormer roof matches the main roof slating. The windows are rectangular timber sliding sash vertically hung, 1 over 1 with horns, set in raised moulded render surrounds with projecting sandstone cills (rendered at the ends). The left-hand and right-hand cills are in poor condition.

The original south elevation is three bays wide, with roof, walls and guttering matching the west side. Two rendered chimneys punctuate this elevation; the main one to the right carries original octagonal stoneware pots as before. Windows are similar to the west elevation, all with horns except for one ground-floor window at the extreme right, which lacks horns. The main entrance is the second bay from the left, comprising an elliptic arched opening with panelled archivolt, keystone and panelled pilasters. The recessed doorway contains an original rectangular timber panelled door and plain sidelights set between triple columned mullions, surmounted by a plain fanlight, with a partly rendered sandstone doorstep.

At the right-hand extremity of the original south elevation projects a screen wall enclosing a coachyard, finished in smooth render with plain block sandstone coping. It contains a large elliptical archway with raised panelled surround (matching the main entrance detailing) and iron girder inset, fitted with a pair of modern iron gates that are not original. The rear face of this screen wall is roughcast render with pebble dash finish. A one-bay modern two-storey extension extends beyond the coachyard archway, set nearly flush with the original elevation. It has a flat roof with timber fascia and oversailing felt covering, rendered walls with pebble dash finish, and one window per storey: a modern rectangular timber fixed light to the ground floor and a metal casement to the first floor, both set in plain reveals with sandstone cill to ground floor and concrete cill to first floor.

The east elevation shows much of the original wall now covered by a substantial modern two-storey flat-roofed extension. The main block retains slating as before with modern flush rooflights. The extension has a flat roof, with exposed rubble stone to the ground floor and smooth render to the first floor. A projecting concrete balcony at first-floor level is supported on a rectangular-section steel post at the left-hand extremity, with a single-storey rubble stone bay to the right. Modern concrete steps with plain iron balustrading lead up to the balcony. Windows in the east elevation are all modern: timber casements to the ground floor and metal casements to the first floor. A modern glazed and panelled timber door at first-floor level opens onto the balcony, which has plain modern iron railings. At the right-hand extremity of the extension is a projecting single-storey outbuilding (part of the adjoining property at No. 11) of red brick and dry dash walling with slated roof.

Setting and Boundaries

The building stands well set back from the main road, approached by a driveway within its own grounds. An extensive front garden contains lawns and shrubs. The main entrance gateway, shared with the adjoining property, comprises a pair of rendered circular gate piers with octagonal bases and octagonal sandstone caps (the gates are missing), curved screen walls rendered to match with sandstone copings, and square end piers with concrete caps. The front boundary wall is similarly rendered with concrete coping. The north boundary is formed partly by low fencing and partly by mature hedge. The south boundary to the front is formed partly by a rubble stone wall enclosing an adjacent 19th-century church and partly by mature hedge or bushes.

The driveway terminates at the coachyard entrance, with a gravelled area at the house leading to a terraced area along the front, enclosed by modern low rendered lined and blocked plinth walls with concrete copings and concrete steps. The south boundary alongside the house is rubble stone with sandstone copings that rake up to the coachyard entrance.

The rear yard is partly surfaced in concrete and partly in modern concrete flagstones with some red brick panels, with a modern concrete fountain. The south boundary of the rear yard is rubble stone with concrete coping; the north boundary is formed by a rubble stone two-storey outbuilding with slated roof and a modern single-storey canted bay. The east end of the rear yard is occupied by a modern single-storey timber boarded outbuilding.

Historical Context

The house is recorded on the Ordnance Survey map of 1859 as part of the block marked 'Ballykeel', though a predecessor structure appears on the 1834 map. The date of construction is given variously as circa 1830 in secondary sources and between 1834 and 1859 based on map evidence. The building lies within a conservation area.