Ashgrove House, 5 Ashgrove Road, Ballynagowan, Portadown, Co. Armagh, BT62 1PA

Ashgrove House is a detached two-storey three-bay house built in 1882 (architect unknown), located on the east side of Island Road approximately 2 kilometres north of Portadown, County Armagh. It replaced an earlier house thought to date to around 1700, which was destroyed by fire. The building stands in a rural setting surrounded by fields, with the River Bann approximately 400 metres to the south-east.

The main house is accompanied by outbuildings on both east and west sides and to the rear (north), arranged around a courtyard. The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically composed. It features a centrally-placed camber-headed entrance flanked by two hipped and slated canted bay windows at ground-floor level, each with three camber-headed window openings. Above, five camber-headed windows occupy the first floor—two above each bay window and one above the entrance. Some windows retain original two-over-two timber sliding sash sashes. A plaque mounted above the entrance reads: "ASHGROVE HOUSE FIRST ERECTED ABOUT A.D. 1700 ACCIDENTALLY BURNED DOWN AND REBUILT BY ROBERT ATKINSON J.P. BEAUMONT BELFAST 1882." The entrance is accessed by four masonry steps leading down to ground level.

The walling is painted rendered throughout, with projecting stringcourses integral to sills below first and ground-floor windows and a projecting plinth. The original pitched natural slate roof has roll-top ridge tiles and original cast-iron cyma-recta profile rainwater goods on stepped eaves. Two rendered chimneystacks with stepped cornices project to the gable ends.

The west elevation continues the painted rendered walling with projecting stringcourses and plinth from the principal elevation. A two-storey return extends to the rear (north), where the roof changes from half-pitched natural slate to a flat roof with metal covering. The rear walling is pebbledash with a smooth rendered plinth, featuring square-headed window openings with smooth rendered surrounds and projecting masonry sills. Windows here are a mixture of original one-over-one and two-over-two timber sliding sash windows, alongside replacement uPVC and original cast-iron rainwater goods. A single-storey lean-to abuts the east wall of the main house.

The east elevation displays painted rendered walling with a single camber-headed window to the south end. The courtyard to the rear is surrounded by outbuildings of varying heights and pitches clad in pebbledash walling. The property is bounded to the front by a garden enclosed by rendered walling with gate piers and wrought-iron gates. To the rear, a roughcast rendered wall with steel gates provides access to the yards.

Robert Atkinson, recorded as the owner in Griffith's Valuation of 1865, was the sole agent for Guinness & Co. in the north of Ireland. His residence, Beaumont House, was built in 1862 adjacent to Danesfort on the Malone Road in Belfast. The original house appears on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map of 1835 and Second Edition map of 1860, with outbuildings shown to the rear. John Shillington is recorded as the occupier in 1865 and appears to have been a wealthy local businessman.

Additional outbuildings were constructed during the early 20th century to reach the present layout, reflecting the property's changing uses. During the 1920s the site functioned as a poultry farm. In 1943, the house, lands and orchards were sold by Portadown auctioneer George Johnston. By the 1950s, the Gilpin family had taken residence; they were renowned for their orchards and apple harvests, winning the Aberdeen Cup in 1956. John Gilpin & Sons also operated an insecticide and fungicide distribution business from the premises.

The house is currently vacant and in disrepair, having been sealed with concrete blocks and timber boards. Many windows and doors have been blocked up, resulting in considerable loss of original fabric. No interior access was possible at the time of survey, although little of value is understood to remain. The outbuildings and surrounding land remain in agricultural use.