Lodge at Hillmount, 357 Old Glenarm Road, Drains, Carncastle, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 2LG

This is a charming late Georgian gate lodge, likely dating from around 1800 to 1819, built as part of the Hillmount estate (reference HB06/03/022). It retains many of its original features and is located in the townland of Drains, near Carncastle and Larne.

The lodge is a single-storey building with a three-bay design. The exterior walls are roughly rendered and whitewashed, topped by a hipped roof with wide eaves. The main entrance, facing south-east, features a central semi-circular recess with a painted blue timber lintel and keystone, flanked by rectangular windows on either side. The windows are timber sliding sash windows with a 6 over 6 pane configuration and stone sills. A panelled door is set off-centre within the recess. The roof is covered in Bangor blue slate laid in regular courses, and a tall brick chimney rises centrally, featuring two pots made of buff earthenware. While the building has PVC gutters, some sections are missing, and other parts are made of inappropriate materials such as tin and asbestos. Two asbestos downpipes are present at the rear. A set-back yard wall extends to the left of the entrance front, finished in rendered and white-painted surfaces with flat sandstone coping and chisel-capped sandstone crenellations. A rectangular doorway is incorporated into the yard wall. The side and rear elevations are simpler in design, with a single window – similar in style to the front windows – in the side wall.

The lodge is situated in a secluded, rural setting, surrounded by trees. It is close to the main road but faces onto the driveway leading to the main Hillmount house. A gateway, also listed, stands nearby and consists of two circular iron posts topped with ball finials, supporting a pair of plain iron gates. A smaller pedestrian gate is positioned to the left, and roughly plastered and whitewashed rubble screen walls curve outwards on either side of the gates; these walls have been crudely re-rendered in places.

The building appears on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1833. Further information can be found in J.A.K. Dean’s book, The Gate Lodges of Ulster. The listing includes the lodge itself, the gates, and the gate screen.