Glenmona Lodge, Piers, Pillars And Gateway, Cushendun, Co.Antrim

Glenmona Lodge is a two-storey seven-bay Neo-Georgian house of white painted rendered construction, situated within parkland to the south-east of Glendun Road near Cushendun, County Antrim. The building was rebuilt in 1923–24 to designs by Clough Williams-Ellis, reusing the burnt-out shell of an earlier T-shaped structure dating from around 1840. The new design maintained a similar layout to the original but introduced distinctive Neo-Georgian features.

The rectangular plan-form is defined by projecting two-storey canted bays on each side of a central porch. The principal north-east elevation faces a caravan park and is accessed via a gravel avenue from Bay Road. The ground floor spans nine bays wide, with the canted bays containing 9/9 timber sliding sash windows at ground floor and 6/6 sashes above. The focal point is a five-arched arcade entrance porch with Tuscan columns, surmounted by the date 1923, the initials 'RMcN', and a family coat of arms. The arcade contains three recessed doorways with semicircular arched heads; the central entrance has a panelled timber door with a large glazed top pane set within a plain architrave surround, a plain glazed transom light, and a semicircular arch-headed fanlight above. The first floor above the porch contains a pair of French doors with glazing bars opening onto a large balcony, with canted bays to either side. A deep projecting stepped cornice runs above the first-floor windows, surmounted by a rendered parapet. The building is set back behind a low stone wall with a white painted rendered section above, with stone steps leading to the entrance porch.

The south-east elevation overlooks a large garden in lawns. It features a projecting two-storey entrance porch at its centre, accessed via three red brick wide steps leading to a pair of semicircular-headed arches supported by a Tuscan column, with recessed bi-folding doors with glazing bars and transom lights above. To the right of this porch are two 9/9 ground-floor windows and two 6/6 sashes on the first floor. To the left, the elevation is three bays wide and three storeys, with a doorway containing panelled and glazed timber doors at ground level, flanked by window bays. Ground and mezzanine-level windows are 3/6 timber sliding sashes; first-floor bays have 6/6 sashes.

The south-west (rear) elevation is abutted by two-storey blocks to the left and right. The right-side return has a hipped roof with slate cladding to the south-west and two sliding sash windows to the north-west. The left-side rear return has a slated pitched roof with a white painted rendered chimney stack and a three-sided canted bay window on the first floor. Both blocks are connected by a white painted rendered two-storey section with a sliding sash window and doorway on the first floor, accessed via an external metal staircase. The main south-west elevation is blank where visible; full access to the rear yard was not permitted during survey.

The north-west elevation is four bays wide, with a small doorway on the first floor level to the left, accessed via an external metal staircase from the north-east. Three window bays on the first floor contain 6/6 timber sliding sashes, aligned with four ground-floor window bays of 9/9 sashes. A deep projecting moulded cornice above the first-floor windows returns to the corner, with painted quoins framing each side.

Materials throughout include white painted rendered walling set on a contrasting painted plinth, timber sliding sash windows with horns, and white painted corner quoins with painted architrave surrounds to all window and door openings. The hipped roof has four tall white painted rendered two-stage chimney stacks with moulded cornices and terracotta clay pots. A rectangular cast-iron hopper discharges to a circular-section downpipe on the front elevation. A small conservation roof light serves the rear slope of the slated pitched roof.

A rear courtyard is enclosed by a high concrete wall to the south-east and south-west sides. The north-west elevation of the left-side rear return is abutted by a white painted rendered outbuilding extending at right angles to the south-west of the garden.

White painted rendered stone outbuildings to the north-west and south-west sides are arranged around the rear garden, with slated hipped roofs. These form a large courtyard, accessed from the south and north-west sides.

The building was converted into a retirement home around 1956. In 1982, further renovations included the rebuilding of a chimney stack and the reslating of the rear roof slope. At the time of survey, the building was vacant but appeared to be used as a resource centre for meetings and community functions. It is located to the north of Cushendun village, in close proximity to Glendun Lodge to the south-west, Cushendun Parish Church to the south-east, and a caravan park to the north.