91 Garron Road, Carnlough, Ballymena, Co Antrimc

91 Garron Road, Carnlough, is a mid-19th century terrace house built in 1849-50 by Lady Londonderry as a Coastguard Cottage to designs by architect Charles Campbell. It is a single-storey, three-bay house of basalt rubble masonry in clearly proportioned but plain Tudor Revival style, forming one of a terrace of four identical cottages.

The entrance elevation faces west onto the main coast road. It features a symmetrical front with a central projecting porch flanked by one window on each side. Windows are rectangular timber two-light casements, each casement comprising two large panes with margin lights, set in roughly rendered reveals with flat arches to the heads and projecting basalt cills. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with dark-toned ridge tiles. Basalt chimneys with plain block cornices occupy each extremity, the left with a stub pot and the right with a modern pot shared with the adjoining house. Walls have a projecting eaves course with cast iron gutters and downpipes.

The porch, of similar basalt rubble walling with a projecting plinth and slate roof, is the principal architectural feature. It has shaped kneelers to the gable and contains a Gothic arched doorway. The rectangular ledged timber door is surmounted by a Gothic arched fanlight with intersecting glazing bars, framed in a rectangular Tudor style drip moulding with black painted spandrel. Downpipes to each side of the porch discharge into raised concrete gulleys.

The north gable is blank, of basalt rubble with shaped kneelers and plain basalt block copings, with one chimney on the apex. Extending to the left and slightly set back is a smooth rendered gable of a rear extension containing one rectangular PVC fixed light and casement. The rear elevation has a main roof slated as the front, with two modern rooflights and modern concrete coping to the party wall with the adjoining property to the left. The entire rear wall is obscured by a later lean-to extension with slated roof, two flush rooflights, smooth rendered walling, three windows of rectangular PVC fixed lights and casements, a rectangular timber glazed and panelled door, and PVC rainwater goods.

The building stands in a very rural area on the seaward side of the main coast road. It is set back slightly from the road with a small front garden bounded by a modern concrete blockwork wall, painted, with concrete copings and caps to gate piers and a modern steel gate. The boundary wall returns to the sides with smooth rendered inner and outer faces. The front plot is surfaced in cement screed. At the rear is a raised cement-surfaced patio bounded by timber fencing, with a rough grassy plot beyond leading to the shoreline.

The building retains most of its original appearance to the entrance front. Despite some degradation of its setting, it still forms part of an interesting group of considerable architectural and group value. It is of local historical and industrial archaeological interest.