Kilmore House, Kilmore, Waterfoot, Ballymena, Co.Antrim

Kilmore House is an extensive former country house in the Glens of Antrim, situated on a mature sloping site on the east side of Glasmullen Road, Waterfoot. It consists of two distinct phases of construction: an earlier four-bay two-storey rendered farmhouse built around 1830, and a larger symmetrical three-bay two-storey-with-attic rendered Edwardian block built in 1907–08, which abuts the gabled north side elevation of the earlier building. The two phases are clearly legible in the fabric of the building, offering a very readable account of the site's development. The whole is irregular on plan and occupies an idyllic mature setting in the Glens of Antrim.

The Edwardian Block (c.1907–08)

The later north block has a hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and uPVC-clad flat-roofed dormers. Three tall rough-cast rendered chimneystacks carry terracotta pots and terracotta capping with classical stucco mouldings. Moulded cast-iron guttering is supported on an overhanging eaves cornice, itself carried on a series of modillions, with cast-iron downpipes throughout.

The walling is painted rough-cast cement render with rusticated render quoins, a moulded render plinth course and continuous plain sill bands at both floor levels. Window openings are camber-headed with painted masonry sills and replacement timber sliding sash windows — largely four-over-one, six-over-one and eight-over-one panes — with ogee horns; the dormer windows have replacement multi-pane timber casements.

The symmetrical three-bay front elevation contains nine window openings arranged over two storeys. The central entrance bay is flanked by full-height three-sided canted bay windows with lead-lined roofs, a cornice between floors and tripartite windows. The entrance itself has a central square-headed door opening fitted with replacement double-leaf timber panelled doors, flanked by plain pilasters surmounted by large scrolled console brackets supporting an open-bed segmental pediment. Slender sidelights with replacement four-over-one timber sliding sash windows flank the doorcase, all framed by rusticated quoined pilasters with a cornice spanning the full width of the entrance. The door opens onto a later concrete-paved platform.

The stepped four-bay east side elevation carries stucco dressings matching those of the front, with all windows being eight-over-one timber sliding sashes. The rear south elevation is abutted by the earlier two-storey house to the east and a two-storey connecting section to the west. The stepped three-bay west side elevation has a single-storey lean-to structure in the re-entrant angle, detailed to match the front elevation. Above the lean-to, to the right, is a large camber-headed stairlight containing a tripartite fixed-pane timber window with leaded coloured glazing.

The Earlier Farmhouse (c.1830)

The four-bay two-storey rendered farmhouse to the south has a pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, three rendered chimneystacks with octagonal clay pots, cast-iron guttering on iron brackets to a rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. The walling is painted rough-cast render with painted masonry channel-rusticated quoins. Window openings are camber-headed with painted masonry sills — with a continuous sill course at first-floor level — and replacement sliding timber sash windows: four-over-eight panes to the first floor, eight-over-four to the ground floor, and some single-pane windows to the rear and return, all with ogee horns.

The four-bay two-storey front elevation faces east and has an elliptical-headed door opening, positioned off-centre to the right, with an original timber doorcase. The replacement timber panelled door is flanked by engaged Doric columns and slender sidelights with rusticated sill aprons, a stepped lintel cornice and an elliptically glazed fanlight. The archivolt moulding rises from a pair of ribbed pilasters with simulated panelling to the reveals. The door opens onto an original stepped sandstone platform.

The south side elevation has a single off-centre window opening at each level, with overhanging eaves finished with a stepped bargeboard and sheeted eaves with brackets. The west rear elevation has a two-bay two-storey return set at an angle to the centre and a shallow two-storey accretion to either side. Window openings to the return are square-headed; those to both accretions are camber-headed, all with painted masonry sills and replacement single-pane timber sliding sash windows throughout.

Interior

The interest of the house is enhanced by fine internal detailing. The original plans for the 1907–08 extension record that the interior of the earlier farmhouse was remodelled to accommodate the kitchen, dining room, a study and a private chapel, while the new Edwardian block contained a drawing room and billiards room at ground floor, bedrooms and bathrooms at first floor, and servants' quarters in the attic storey.

Historical Background

The site has a long and well-documented history. The townland of Kilmore was occupied by the landowning McDonnell family from at least the early 18th century. The first recorded occupant was Coll McDonnell, a gentleman who leased ten acres in Kilmore from the Earl of Antrim and established a dwelling there in 1706. The site passed to his son Alexander in 1742, to his grandson John in 1803, and to his great-grandson Randal in 1815.

The two-storey four-bay farmhouse, which now forms the southern part of the complex, had been constructed by 1832, when it was depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map in its current layout, along with the two-storey extension extending from its west elevation. The Townland Valuations of around 1834 described the farmhouse as a first-class dwelling — defined as a new or nearly new slated building — valued at £9 and 9 shillings, measuring 40 feet in length by 24 feet 6 inches in breadth and 19 feet in height. The return shown on the Ordnance Survey maps was described as a second-class structure (a thatched building that was old but in good repair), and it is possible — though not confirmed — that this thatched building, which predated the farmhouse, was the McDonnell family's earlier dwelling on the site. The Townland Valuations also recorded that the site possessed a barn, a stable and a byre to the west of the farmhouse. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1830–38 recorded that the farmhouse at Kilmore was originally known as Ballinlig and described it as "a very neat and commodious two-storey house … its situation is exceedingly romantic and picturesque, seated at the base of the lofty and precipitous mountain which forms the north west side of the beautiful valley of Glenariff."

By the mid-19th century Ballinlig had passed to Randal McDonnell's eldest son Alexander. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 increased the value of the house to £10 and noted that a gate lodge (now demolished), valued at 10 shillings, had been erected at the main entrance. The second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857 recorded no significant change to the site layout since the 1830s. Following Alexander McDonnell's death in 1862, the house was occupied by his younger brother, Colonel John McDonnell, a local magistrate, who remained there until his death in 1905. The property had become known as Kilmore House by at least the turn of the 20th century, as it appears under that name on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1903.

Following Colonel John McDonnell's death in 1905, Kilmore House passed to his nephew, Captain William A. Silvertop of Northumberland. The Silvertop family commissioned the Edwardian extension in 1907–08, designed by Nicholas Fitzsimmons (1869–c.1940), a Belfast-based architect who entered into partnership with Robert Graeme Watt and Frederick Tulloch in 1909. The construction of the extension increased the rateable value of Kilmore House and its outbuildings to £60. Captain Silvertop served in France during the First World War but died in 1917, after which the house was sold and passed out of the McDonnell family connection entirely.

Kilmore House had been purchased outright by James McGuire by at least the 1930s, and its value was reduced to £40 and 15 shillings under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57). The McGuire family continued to reside at Kilmore House until around 1950, when the property was occupied by the Most Reverend Dr D. Mageean, Roman Catholic Lord Bishop of Down and Connor (1882–1962). The Bishop retained the house until around 1960, when it was converted into a holiday home for visitors to the North Coast, administered by the Trustees of Kilmore Holiday House. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the value of Kilmore House and its outbuildings had increased to £112. The house was listed in 1980 and, at the time of the most recent survey, continued to be used as holiday accommodation, though was advertised for sale.

Setting

Kilmore House sits on an extensive mature sloping site to the east of Glasmullen Road. There are tarmac forecourts and driveways to the north and east, paved sports areas to the east, and a parking area to the west and south enclosed by rendered walling and steel railings. A tarmac avenue runs along a stream and opens onto the road via decorative wrought-iron gates hung on rendered piers with matching curved walls and further piers.