House on Portavoe Point, 89 Warren Road, Portavoe, Donaghadee, Co Down, BT21 0PJ

House on Portavoe Point, Warren Road, Portavoe, Donaghadee

A substantial, irregular and sprawling two and a half storey house built in 1929, prominently sited on an outcrop of land extending from the rocky shoreline approximately 1.5 miles north-west of Donaghadee. The building displays a slight Domestic Revival character with elements of more overtly modern design. It was built for Sir Walter Smiles MP, who died in the Princess Victoria disaster of 1952. The house subsequently passed to his daughter, Lady Daisy Fisher, and was sold to the present owner in 1978.

The building is roughly T-shaped in plan, with the principal two and a half storey section to the south and single storey flat-roofed offshoots extending to the north, east and west. These projections largely date from the original construction, though they have the appearance of slightly later, more modern additions.

The main two storey section displays a traditional appearance with a Westmoreland slate cladding to the gabled roof, which features an overhang. Two off-centre full-height gabled bays face the front, with a further gable to the rear, alongside a two storey flat-roofed rounded bay. The attic level is clad in Westmoreland slate, with painted rough cast to much of the remainder of the façade. The two storey section has overhanging eaves, as does the flat-roofed section.

Two main entrances serve the property, both located within the single storey projections. The northern entrance leads via a small porch into the main hallway, whilst the eastern entrance, technically the service entrance, now serves as the primary entry and leads through the kitchen to the main hallway.

The north face of the main section features one large ground floor window to the right, with the centre obscured by the northern projection. To the left is a plain modern window set on a wide sill, centred on a shallow bay projection. To the first floor right is a projecting bay with two paired gables, each with a small centred window, and mullioned windows centred below each gable. Small windows flank the left-hand window, with a large mullioned window further left, also centred on a shallow bay projection. The northern projection is chiefly flat-roofed with a shallow lean-to boiler room at its northern end. A door and large modern French window are located to the left side, with the main entrance to the far right.

The east face features a similar modern multi-paned window with French doors. A small flat-roofed projection with a plain door lies to the right, with a modern window with painted surround immediately adjacent, and two small windows to the far right. The ground floor of the main two storey section's east face is obscured by a full-width flat-roofed projection; the first floor has two small, widely spaced windows. The gable features vertical hung slate with a small mullioned window to the centre. A modern glazed entrance screen (serving the kitchen) occupies the north face of the projection, with a circular bay at the north-west corner featuring wrap-around mullioned and transomed glazing. The west face comprises the circular bay to the left and a large picture window to the right. The south face has a glazed door to the centre flanked by modern windows.

The south face of the main two storey section features a projecting bay, the ground floor of which is now obscured by a modern PVC conservatory. The first floor has two widely and evenly spaced windows. The bay is surmounted by a slate-clad gable without an attic window. To the left is a large picture window at ground floor and a three-frame mullioned window to the first floor. To the right of the central bay is a two storey flat-roofed bay with mullioned windows to both ground and first floors.

The east face of the main section is largely obscured at ground floor by a full-width sun room projection, with a central window at first floor. The gable features a central window and is slated as described above. The sun room is lean-to construction with a centrally projecting segmental bay beneath a flat roof.

All window frames are now PVC, though care has been taken in the two storey section to fit windows into the original mullioned openings. The roof is covered in natural slate with cast iron rainwater goods.