Glendore House, 210 Crawfordsburn Road, Crawfordsburn, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 1HY

Glendore House is a two-storey, two-bay Victorian dwelling erected around 1870, located on Crawfordsburn Road northeast of Crawfordsburn Village in the townland of Ballymullan. It was formerly part of the Crawfordsburn Estate. The house has a rectangular plan form with a two-storey return and is set back from the road, screened by mature trees, with access via a gravel driveway and landscaped gardens.

The main structure is built of rubble masonry walling with red-brick surrounds, now exposed following removal of the original render. It retains a pitched natural slate roof with plain ridge tiles and gable skews with scrolled shoulders. The principal gable faces south and is asymmetrically arranged, comprising the front entrance to the right and a single window to the left at ground floor level, with two first-floor windows directly above. The entrance is a wide timber door with four panels and bolection mouldings, flanked by a pair of narrow Ionic columns with entablature and topped by a segmental-arched fanlight set within a moulded segmental arched opening.

Windows throughout are 1/1 timber sliding sash with horns, smooth reveals, heads and stone cills. The east elevation features a tripartite window with narrow side sashes to the ground floor right and a single-storey canted bay to the left, both with smooth rendered surrounds and slated hipped roofs. The north gable is similarly asymmetrically arranged with a single-storey canted bay to the right. A round-arched window with margin panes and stained glass is located centrally at first floor on the west elevation. The western return is a subservient two-storey section with four windows on its south face, uniformly arranged as 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with vertical glazing bars. It has lower eaves and ridge levels and a flat tile roof.

The building's original cement render chimneystack retains a moulded cornice with decorative octagonal clay pots. However, the central chimney has been removed from the rear return and other chimneys on the main block have been reduced in height. Replacement uPVC rainwater goods have been fitted throughout.

The north face of the western return has been substantially altered, with a single-storey flat-roofed porch abutment to the right and a two-storey gable projection to the left. A further single-storey flat-roofed extension with cast-iron parapet and a variety of windows abuts the west gable. Adjacent to the rear of the building is a short row of single-storey adjoining garages and stores of no significant architectural interest.

Historical development and context records suggest the house may have been originally built for Arminella Crawford, daughter of William Sharman Crawford of Crawfordsburn, around the time of her father's death in 1861 and her brother John's accession to the estates. It does not enter valuation records until 1870 when valued at £35. Arthur Sharman Crawford, another brother, occupied the house from 1870 following Arminella's death, though he moved to Ballymenoch House in 1873. By 1901, the house had become the residence of Robert Brown, the land steward to the Crawfordsburn estates, and his family; Brown remained resident until his death in 1915. Alex Stewart took over the house in 1923. The building is first shown, captioned 'Glendore Ho', on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901, in much the same plan form as it does today.

Although of robust character, extensive alterations have compromised the building's architectural and historic interest. Render has been removed from the main building, chimneys have been reduced or removed, and various modern extensions and additions have been made. The house is not among the best examples of its type. The building does, however, retain interest from an industrial archaeological perspective, given its proximity to the Windmill (Industrial Heritage Record 0251500000) visible from the site across the lawn towards Belfast Lough.