Portmore House, 12 Crumlin Road, Ballinderry Upper, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 2JU

Portmore House is a two-storey, five-bay vernacular farmhouse of the hearth-lobby type, predating 1830 and most likely built between 1800 and 1819. It sits at the end of a long drive off Crumlin Road, north of Lower Ballinderry, within the better arable land of Ballinderry parish, lying between the 100-foot and 300-foot contours. It is a privately owned building, currently uninhabited, and is recorded for its vernacular character rather than being formally listed.

Exterior

The farmhouse follows a linear plan with a rear return. The roof is covered in replacement artificial slate with clay ridge tiles and brick chimneys without pots; rainwater goods are uPVC replacements. Walls are dry-dashed with smooth rendered quoins and a plinth. Windows are 1/1 timber sliding sash with horns, set on stone cills within smooth rendered surrounds. The front door is a replacement plain timber type.

The principal, south-facing elevation is asymmetrically arranged. The entrance porch sits left of centre, with two windows to its left and three to its right. First-floor windows are uniformly positioned above the ground-floor openings. An additional bay at the far left has a slightly lower ridge and eaves level and retains natural slate roofing. The right gable is symmetrically arranged, with 8/8 timber sliding sash windows with moulded surrounds positioned centrally at both ground and first-floor levels. The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged and is abutted centrally by a single-storey return projecting northwards, with single ground-floor windows flanking either side and a door to the far left. This return has a natural slate pitched roof and is further extended by a single-storey outbuilding with a corrugated asbestos roof. The left gable is blank and is abutted by a single-storey shed.

Interior

Internally, much of the historic fabric has been significantly altered or lost. The notable exception is a very well-preserved early tie-beam truss, which remains in situ. This truss survived the 19th-century raising of the roof — which incorporated a first floor to the front elevation — and the subsequent replacement roof with raised rear eaves level carried out around 1960.

Setting

Single and double-height outbuildings and an extensive yard lie to the north and east. To the south stands a large modern red-brick house, which detracts from the setting of the farmhouse. To the west, a smooth rendered wall with wrought iron gates leads to an approach largely obscured by overgrown vegetation. A water pump is located adjacent to the right gable.

Historical Background

Ballinderry parish was described in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) as a fertile agricultural district: "The land is almost all arable and in a good state of cultivation; the system of tillage is improving. There is little or no waste land; in the north-east and south-west parts of the parish are some valuable bogs. The weaving of linen and cotton affords employment to a considerable number of persons, but the greater number of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture." Ordnance Survey maps confirm that the area has remained rural, with scattered farms in a largely agricultural landscape. The house sits in the more productive arable zone: land below 100 feet was prone to winter flooding, and land above 300 feet ran to pasture, furze, and rough grazing. The wider area experienced population decline during the second half of the 19th century as people drifted from rural districts into Belfast, though numbers began to stabilise around the turn of the 20th century. The hearth-lobby house type to which Portmore House belongs is prevalent throughout this area and much of central and south-east Ulster.

The building, rectangular in plan with its rear return, appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832, shown without a caption, alongside additional structures to the south and east and a small orchard to the rear. South Antrim was a productive apple-growing district at this time. The Townland Valuation records the house as the residence of William Moore, valued at £7 17s — a moderately substantial farmhouse. Its recorded dimensions of 52 feet by 18 feet by 12.6 feet indicate it had by then largely assumed its present form as a slated dwelling. An additional single-storey thatched bay of 14.6 feet by 17 feet by 6.6 feet appears to correspond to the additional bay now visible at the west end of the house, which is today two-storey and slated. Further buildings recorded at this time include a thatched pantry, a thatched store, a slated barn, and various outbuildings both slated and thatched. The evolved character of the farmstead at this early stage suggests it had been in existence for some time before the first edition map was made.

It is worth noting that in the 1830s the name "Portmore House" belonged to a different building near the lough shore, then in ruins, which had been the former residence of the eminent rector and theological writer Jeremy Taylor. The current farmhouse was not captioned "Portmore House" on Ordnance Survey maps until the 1900–01 edition.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation (1856–64) the farm had passed to Francis Moore, who leased the property from the Marquess of Hertford, the local landowner. The house and outbuildings were by then valued at £9, with over 70 acres of land attached; Francis Moore also leased a further plot of over 39 acres. In 1871 the house passed to Archibald McKenzie and then in 1877 to Edward Nelson. By 1893 the valuation had been reduced to £5, with the valuer noting that "two-fifths of the lot is offices — valuation of buildings much too high." Edward Nelson died in 1896, leaving the house to John Nelson, who became the owner in fee in 1905 under land purchase legislation. By 1903 the valuation had been further reduced to £4 15s.

The 1901 census records John Nelson living in the house with his brother and their two nieces, one of whom worked as a dressmaker, along with a farm servant. Importantly, both the 1901 and 1911 census returns indicate the farmhouse was roofed with "thatch, wood or other perishable material" at both dates — confirming the building was still thatched well into the 20th century. By 1911, John and his brother Isaac had both married: John had six children and his brother three, though it is unclear from the census whether the two families shared the house. John Nelson remained in residence until at least 1928. External modifications carried out around 1940 left the exterior's style and character largely intact, and the rear roof level was raised slightly in more recent times.