7 Beach Road, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 9QS

An attached mid-terrace two-storey house, one of six cottages forming the former Coastguard station built in 1870, located on the west side of Beach Road in Whitehead, Carrickfergus. The building sits on an elevated site above the road with views across Belfast Lough, positioned ideally for maritime oversight.

The house is rectangular on plan with a single-storey kitchen extension to the west. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with a brick corbelled chimney topped by concrete coping and replacement pots. Walls are constructed in English garden wall bonded red brick over a painted rendered plinth, with a corbelled sill course at first-floor level. The principal elevation faces east, comprising a square-headed replacement uPVC glazed entrance door in a stepped rendered surround with segmental arch above, accessed via eight concrete steps with a rendered parapet shared with the neighbouring property. Windows on both floors flank the door to the right. These are replacement segmental-headed uPVC casements set in stepped vermiculated sandstone surrounds with painted masonry sills. The south elevation is abutted by the adjacent cottage. The west elevation contains the extension at ground-floor level with a door and window, while the exposed wall above contains a single square-headed window. The north elevation is abutted by the neighbouring property to that side. The building has its own grounds with access to the south-east through vermiculated square sandstone gate pillars. A car park and modern garages lie to the north-west, with an enclosed yard to the west. Gutters and downpipes are cast-iron with an ogee profile and round section respectively.

The Coastguard service in Whitehead was established in 1820-1 under the name Black Head. An earlier group of Coastguard cottages stood at Marine Parade, recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The terrace was built in 1870 to replace these earlier cottages at a cost of £1,732 18 shillings and 2 pence. It originally provided accommodation for a chief boatman and five coastguards. The Coastguard was then administered by the Admiralty as a naval force maintained to suppress smuggling, aid shipwrecked vessels, and serve as a reserve to the navy. The building appears first on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902.

Early photographs reveal that the cottages originally had no entrances on the east (shore) side, these being added in the latter half of the twentieth century. The photographs also show that the Captain's house (number 10) was originally brickwork like the others. Historical evidence, including contemporary gunports and musket loops visible throughout the terrace, suggests a defensive function. A passage formerly ran the length of the terrace from the Captain's house to a fortified watchtower, aiding movement between cottages in the event of attack.

Valuation records show the station valued at £20 in the 1864-1879 Revisions. An 1880s note records 'there is no chief officer's house here', and an 1914 entry notes one house vacant since January 1911, valued at £3. The current Station on Beach Road appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902 and the seventh edition of 1930.

Comprehensive renovation of the terrace, including replacement windows, doors, and kitchen extensions, was carried out between 1986 and 1989. A letter from D. Hornby, Secretary of the Office of Public Works, dated December 1871, to William Gray of Belfast, records that the Admiralty had been requested to authorize the Coastguard officer to arrange taking possession of the new buildings at Whitehead once final contractor matters were completed.

The building is listed for its architectural interest in style, proportion, ornamentation, setting, and group value, and for its local interest and social, cultural and economic importance. It lies within a conservation area.