Badoney Manse, 39 Droit Road, Gortin, BT78 4DS

Badoney Manse is a detached three-bay two-storey rendered former manse built around 1878, situated within the grounds of Badoney Presbyterian Church on an elevated site to the west of Droit Road in Gortin. T-shaped in plan and facing south, the building now stands vacant.

The house is constructed of redbrick walling with cement pebble-dash render and tooled stone quoins to all corners. It is roofed with natural slate and features three large yellow brick chimneystacks with clay pots and black clay ridge tiles. The eaves have a timber boxed fascia and steel rainwater goods.

The south-facing front elevation is asymmetrical, comprising a single-bay projection to the left and two bays to the right, with a single-storey bay window to the right whose roof extends to the inner corner to form a porch sheltering the entrance. The window openings are square-headed with moulded architrave surrounds and stone sills, fitted with single-pane timber sliding sash windows with ogee horns and some cylinder glass. The central bay contains a square-headed window opening, with paired openings to the left and right bays. Above, paired round-headed window openings at first-floor level contain single-pane timber sash windows. The entrance is a Gothic-headed opening with moulded architrave surround, fitted with a replacement hardwood glazed and panelled door with plain overlight. The porch is supported by a pair of timber stop-chamfered brackets. A concrete paved platform gives access to a short flight of concrete steps.

The west elevation is three bays wide with a single-storey three-sided canted bay window to the right having a continuous stone sill course. The rear elevation features a larger projection on the western section with a further projection accommodating the stair hall, and a two-storey lean-to to the left. The stair hall contains a round-headed window opening with single-pane timber sliding sash window with coloured margin lights. Below this is a flat-roofed rear entrance porch with a glazed and panelled timber door.

The rear yard is enclosed to the north by a three-bay two-storey rendered outbuilding with a pitched corrugated iron roof, pebble-dash rendered walls and square-headed window openings with steel casement windows. The yard is enclosed to the east by a tall rubblestone wall with cement coping and a vehicular sheeted steel gate. A short bitumac avenue descends southeast to Droit Road.

The building first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1905–6 captioned as a manse. Valuation Revision records show the addition of a "house, offices and land" in 1879, valued at £14, with a marginal note recording that in 1878 the "new house unfinished" and was said to have cost £685, "built with expense of the congregation" and deemed "excessive". The original occupier was the Reverend John Boyd; by 1881 the house was vacant, with the Reverend Jackson McFadden taking residency in 1883. The property was leased from the Trustees of the Presbyterian Meeting House.

Badoney Presbyterian Church, which stands nearby, appears on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map but underwent rebuilding between 1833 and 1854. Historical records note that a Presbyterian congregation existed in this parish from 1659, and that in 1843, under the guidance of the Reverend Thomas Johnston (ordained that year), a new church was built on the same site in the townland of Droit in the parish of Lower Badoney. The famous Irish politician Daniel O'Connell contributed to the cost of this church.

The manse retains its original appearance and detailing, including fenestration, though it is noted as a late example of the type and not among the finest examples.