Olderfleet Hotel, 1 Fleet Street, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 1BA

The Olderfleet Hotel, constructed between 1860 and 1878 and designed by Samuel P. Close for James Chaine, is a large, three-story hotel with a basement level, arranged on an asymmetrical plan. The original main entrance, facing east, has been altered and replaced with a window, with the original side entrance now serving as the main entry. The hotel is topped by a Mansard roof featuring pedimented dormers, covered with alternating courses of Bangor blue slates and fish scale slates. The walls originally had a dry dash finish of limestone chippings, but this has been replaced with an inappropriate smooth cement rendering. The detailing includes quoins, string courses, brackets to the cornice, and dormers. The parapets incorporate Renaissance style open-work in sandstone.

The first-floor windows are mainly segmental headed, timber sliding sash windows, vertically hung with a 1 over 1 configuration and horns, and are original. Ground-floor windows are rectangular fixed lights with horizontal divisions, which are later replacements. The basement level has been exposed and the windows replaced with an inappropriate design. A new basement entrance was created in the mid-20th century on the east front, characterized by brown and yellow ceramic tiles, rectangular hardwood glazed doors, a tiled screen wall, and a flat-roofed canopy – all of which are considered inappropriate. A single-story return is located on the south side, fronted by a grassed garden, while a two-story gabled block extends from the north side. This block has been further extended into a long, two-story return now known as ‘The Olderfleet’ bar, and is painted white to distinguish it from the main hotel block.

The hotel occupies a corner location on two roads and overlooks the reclaimed land of the harbor. It is situated in an area of limited architectural and environmental significance. The original setting was once described as “beautifully situated facing the sea.” References detail the hotel’s design and appearance in historical publications and photographs.