Ballinderry House, 23 Lower Ballinderry Road, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 2JH

Ballinderry House is a detached, multi-bay, two-storey rendered gentleman's farmhouse built around 1740, set on a mature, elevated site to the south of Lower Ballinderry Road. It is a rare surviving example of its type, combining formal Georgian details with vernacular elements, and retaining a remarkably intact interior alongside an impressive rear yard and extensive outbuildings. The house is notable for its historical association with John Wesley, commemorated by an engraved marble plaque on the main elevation, and makes an important contribution to the heritage of the area.

Architecture and Exterior

The house is rectangular on plan, facing north, with a single-storey front entrance porch and a single-storey accretion to the west gable. To the rear there are two returns, and an extensive range of two-storey outbuildings forming a large enclosed yard. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles, and there are four rendered chimneystacks fitted with terracotta pots. Rainwater goods are ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering on iron brackets, with cast-iron downpipes and decorative hoppers, though the rear elevation has replacement plastic rainwater goods.

The external walls are painted render with a render plinth course and rusticated render quoins. Window openings are square-headed with painted stone sills, original timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes, and historic glass throughout. The front elevation is six windows wide; the easternmost bay dates from around 1930. An off-centre single-storey gable-fronted entrance porch sits on the front elevation, and both ends of this elevation are surmounted by a masonry ball finial. The fenestration comprises 6/3 timber sash windows to the first floor and 6/6 to the ground floor, with horizontally-glazed 2/2 sash windows to the easternmost bay and steel casement windows to the entrance porch and to the single-storey west accretion.

Attached to the front elevation is a marble plaque reading: "John Wesley / Preached / From This House / 5th July 1771". To the west cheek of the entrance porch is a square-headed door opening fitted with an early 20th-century flat-panelled timber door with decorative door furniture. The east gable, dating from around 1930, has steel casement windows to both floors and is abutted by a single-storey entrance porch with a square-headed opening and a flat-panelled and glazed timber door.

The rear elevation has roughcast lime-rendered walling. To its east it is abutted by a single-storey return built around 1930, which is itself attached to the east range of outbuildings. To the west end of the rear there is a two-storey red brick return built around 1880, with a lean-to rear entrance porch set into the re-entrant angle. A tall rendered wall spans the gap between both returns, enclosing a small yard, with an outshot to the rear elevation covered in natural slate. Timber sash windows to the rear elevation match those of the front elevation, with horizontally-glazed timber sash windows to the west return. To the east cheek of the rear porch is a squat door opening with a plain timber door fitted with brass door furniture and a metal canopy. The rear gable of the red brick return is surmounted by a red brick chimneystack, with some rubblestone walling to the ground floor only.

A datestone of 1827 exists at the house, which architectural historian C. E. B. Brett interprets as recording an enlargement or modernisation rather than the original construction date.

Setting and Outbuildings

The house is approached via a winding gravel avenue to the west, which opens into the large rear yard through replacement salvaged cast-iron gates. The front garden is enclosed to the road by a low rendered wall with iron railings and two sets of decorative wrought-iron gates.

The outbuildings are largely limewashed rubblestone structures laid out on a U-plan — two storeys to the east and south, and single storey to the west. They have largely pitched natural slate roofs with apex vents, cast-iron rainwater goods, and original timber sheeted doors and shutters. The yard is concrete-paved with a central mature lime tree.

Historical Background

Ballinderry House appears on the first Ordnance Survey map for the area in 1832, recorded as an extensive farmstead with three large outbuildings to the south. The Townland Valuation of around 1833 describes the house as a two-storey building in the 2b class — noted as "deteriorated by age, not in perfect repair" — measuring 52 by 21 feet and 17 feet high. It was occupied at that time by William James Ravenscroft, who was subsequently replaced by a Mr Edward Nelson. The valuation recorded a large number of outbuildings including a scullery, writing office, cart house, barn, stable houses, and other unspecified office buildings. The house itself was valued at £6 11s. 8d. and the entire site at £20 5s. 3d.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation in 1859, the property was valued at £17. The conversion of two south-eastern outbuildings into one larger structure, visible on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, may have contributed to this reduction in value. The fragmentary 1851 Census records that Edward Nelson, aged 50, was a local farmer living at Ballinderry House with his wife Elizabeth, aged 52, their daughter, and a small number of servants. Edward Nelson occupied the house until 1871, when a Richard R. Nelson — presumably his son — took possession. In 1894 Richard Nelson purchased the house outright from the Marquis of Hertford, but by 1900 ownership had passed to a Miss Charlotte Nelson. The 1901 Census records Charlotte Nelson, a 70-year-old widow, living at the house with her niece Charlotte Javiers, aged 27. The house was described at that time as a second-class dwelling of nine rooms, with outbuildings comprising a stable, coach house, three cow houses, a piggery, and a barn.

In 1906 the house passed to Thomas McKeown, who carried out restoration work that increased the farm's value to £24. Between the third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (covering 1901 to 1920), McKeown constructed an additional outbuilding to the south of the house. The 1911 Census records McKeown living at Ballinderry House with his wife Matilda, aged 55, and their daughter. The Census Building Return notes that McKeown added an extra stable and two additional calf houses to the farm, and by this point the house was classified as a first-class dwelling. McKeown remained at the property until 1922, when Mr James J. Gracey briefly took possession before departing in 1928, when Mr Philip Higginson became the last owner recorded in the Annual Revisions.

According to Brett, in 1771 the house belonged to a Captain Nelson, before it was subsequently occupied by William Ravenscroft. Brett is not certain whether the house from which Wesley preached is the same as the current building, but he states that the house is certainly Georgian and cites many features to support this date; field inspection readily supports his assertion that Ballinderry House was constructed in the mid-18th century.

The historian Clarke records that John Wesley, the effective founder of the Methodist Church, visited Ballinderry and dined at Ballinderry House on 5th July 1771 with around 50 members of the local Methodist society. During his stay, Wesley is said to have preached to a large number of local people from a window of the house, an event commemorated by the marble plaque on the front elevation.

Since 1928 the house has been occupied by a member of the Higginson family. Although historical records suggest Ballinderry House fell into a state of disrepair at some point in its past, Brett described it in 1996 as "exceptionally well-loved and cared-for". The house was listed in 1991 and is included within the Ballinderry Area of Village Character. The listing covers the house together with its gates, pillars, and outbuildings.