7 Demesne Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9DQ

7 Demesne Road, Holywood

This is a mid-19th century semi-detached house, one of a pair of Italianate villas built around 1840-1859. It is a good and well-preserved example of the genre, though it has suffered some minor loss of detail and unsympathetic small additions to the rear.

The house is two storeys with gabled and hipped roofs. The main elevation faces west, with the main entrance approached from the north elevation. The roofs are covered in Bangor blue slate in regular courses with dark ridge tiles. The walls are smooth rendered, lined and blocked, with projecting moulded plinth, moulded cill courses to each floor, and moulded frieze. Corners feature stop chamfering with torus moulding. Two rendered chimneys with moulded detailing and plain modern pots sit at each end of the ridge; the left-hand chimney is shared with the adjoining house.

The west elevation is two bays wide. A gabled breakfront rises to the right, with the main wall set back slightly to the left and two windows wide. The gabled breakfront contains a single-storey projecting canted bay to the ground floor, with one window in each face set in moulded reveals and a moulded cornice with PVC downpipe. The bay originally had scrolling and ornamented pedimental cresting, now missing. Two first-floor windows sit within semi-circular arches with raised moulded surrounds, topped by small scrolling and ornamented crestings. A blind oculus sits at the centre of the gable with inset shield and label moulding.

The main west wall contains two windows to each floor. First-floor windows are set in raised moulded and heeled surrounds. Ground-floor windows are coupled with chamfered reveals, framed by panelled pilasters with ornamented brackets and moulded cornice, surmounted by triangular pedimental features topped with ornamented plasterwork cresting.

The south elevation is three bays wide, with a central hipped roofed breakfront three windows wide to the first floor, flanked on each side by recessed walls one window wide. First-floor windows have raised moulded and heeled surrounds. Ground-floor windows are set in pilastered and pedimented aedicules as on the west front, except the right-hand extremity window which has first-floor style surrounds. The right-hand ground-floor window is glazed with decorative leaded lights sashed 1 over 1.

The central breakfront projects as a canted bay to the ground floor, to the right of a window. The west face contains the main entrance—a rectangular timber panelled door in a pilastered and pedimented aedicule—with one window above, and three windows to the first floor. The entrance is approached by terrazzo steps (a later addition) with a terrazzo terrace in front bounded by terrazzo balustrading. The east face of the central breakfront contains a first-floor window with a rectangular glazed and panelled doorway to the ground floor opening into a porch conservatory. The rear (east) face has a blank ground-floor wall with one first-floor window sashed 1 over 1.

All windows throughout are timber sliding sashes, vertically hung, 2 over 2 with horns and horizontal pane divisions, except where noted. Rectangular heads predominate; round heads appear on two first-floor windows of the gabled breakfront. Windows have decorative leaded lights in specific locations (1 over 1 sashed).

The east elevation comprises a main rear wall to the right, one window wide, with a deep projecting gabled return to the left. The main rear wall has one first-floor window in plain reveals and two ground-floor windows sashed 1 over 1 in plain reveals. The gabled return features a projecting lean-to at ground level with slated roof, containing three modern rooflights, PVC gutters and downpipes, and three windows (rectangular timber sliding sash, 1 over 1 with horns). The first floor of the return has two 1 over 1 sashed windows with decorative leaded lights and horns in plain reveals. An attic storey contains one window as per the west elevation in plain reveals. The north elevation of the return has three windows: one ground-floor window sashed 2 over 2 with horns in plain reveals; one first-floor small rectangular window sashed 1 over 1 with horns and decorative leaded lights in plain reveals; and one semi-circular headed stair window sashed 1 over 1 with margins. Two rectangular timber doorways open from this elevation—one glazed and panelled, one flush.

Oversailing eaves with paired shaped brackets appear on the west, south and east elevations; those on the east have plain brackets. Moulded gutters with PVC and cast iron downpipes are throughout.

The property stands within its own grounds, approached via a private road lined with mature trees along its west verge. The private road entrance is recessed and comprises plain rendered curving screen walls and chamfered piers without gates. The front elevation faces this private road, with a grass lawn and driveway to the south side. The front boundary comprises hedges with open driveway and a party hedge to the adjoining property. A low brick wall with sandstone coping bounds the south.

The rear yard is surfaced in large quarry tiles from the main rear wall to the end of the gabled return, followed by concrete and sandstone steps leading to an area surfaced in concrete bricks. A projecting party boundary wall of smooth rendered construction extends from the main rear wall, with similar single-storey outhouses running from the party wall toward the east and continuing as a further run of party boundary wall. These outhouses have lean-to slated roofs, PVC gutters and downpipes, two rectangular timber fixed light windows, and four rectangular timber sheeted doors. A plain rendered boundary wall forms the south of the yard. The rear boundary wall is smooth rendered to the inner face, and rubble stone with lime mortar to the exterior, surmounted by rendered brick courses in poor condition at the south end and a raised rendered coping at the north end. It contains one blocked doorway with old brick block dressings and flat arch, and one doorway with raised rendered surround containing a rectangular timber sheeted door.

The house has experienced some minor loss of detail—notably the missing scrolling and ornamented pedimental cresting to the canted bay—and includes some small unsympathetic additions, particularly the rear lean-to with rooflights and the terrazzo steps and terrace. The listing encompasses the house and rear walling adjoining Demesne Road, and the building sits within a conservation area.