8 Church Road, Gracehill, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT42 2NL

8 Church Road, Gracehill

A gabled 1½ storey semi-detached house, originally the northern portion of a single cottage that has since been divided. The building dates from approximately 1800 to 1819, appearing on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1832–3 and recorded on maps of land holdings from circa 1805–1819. It stands within Gracehill Village Conservation Area.

The main entrance faces south-west, set within a projecting flat-roofed porch. The front elevation is single-storey and two-bay, with one window to the right of the porch. The roof is finished in Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses with grey ridge tiles. There is one chimney, smooth cement rendered with a plain cornice and a black pot.

The walls are of roughcast render with wet dash finish over a smooth cement rendered plinth, painted. A projecting brick eaves course, painted, supports a metal gutter. Windows throughout are rectangular timber, vertically hung sliding sashes with 1 over 1 lights and horns, featuring exposed sash boxes. Window cills are concrete, painted, with smooth cement rendered reveals.

The porch has a rectangular plan with timber framing on low plinth walls, smooth cement rendered with a concrete cill. The front face has three large fixed light windows; the south face has two similar windows. To the left-hand side is a rectangular doorway with a fixed sidelight. The door itself is modern rectangular timber, glazed with 2 panels. A tongued and grooved timber frieze runs around the porch with a timber fascia overhanging; a PVC gutter to the right-hand side elevation connects to a small metal downpipe.

The north-west elevation comprises a 1½ storey gable, two windows wide at ground floor with a central window in the apex. A single storey rear return extends to the left, two windows wide. All windows are rectangular timber fixed lights with top-hung vents. The walling is roughcast as before; the gable slates slightly overhang the plain verge. The roof of the rear return and the rear pitch of the gabled block are finished in asbestos slates. A PVC gutter to the rear return has a timber eaves board with a PVC downpipe.

Extending to the left and set back slightly is a lower extension to the rear return, with similar roughcast walling, synthetic slates, PVC gutter and downpipe, and a timber fascia. A modern rectangular timber door, glazed and panelled, provides access, with modern tiles to the doorstep. The north-east gable of this extension is plain with overhanging eaves and timber barge boards.

The south-east elevation of the extension to the rear return has a wide three-light rectangular window with a central fixed light and top-hung windows to each side, all with segmental arches and concrete cills. The north-east gable of the rear return features a square timber side-hung casement window in the apex with a concrete cill. The ground floor to the left of the extension has a rectangular timber window as described for the north-west elevation, with projecting timber barge boards.

The south-east elevation of the rear return is a plain roughcast wall with asbestos slates, timber fascia, and PVC rainwater goods. A low projecting modern heating chamber is positioned to the right, and a single storey flat-roofed bathroom projects to the left. The bathroom walls are roughcast without a plinth; the roof has a timber fascia with asphalt covering. A rectangular timber window in the north-east face is a fixed light with top-hung vent; the south-east face is plain with PVC gutter and downpipe. The rear elevation of the front block has a Bangor blue slate roof in regular courses with a modern flush rooflight.

The house stands facing the main street, set back with a small concrete paved and gravelled area to the front. A gravelled driveway extends to the north, bounded by a lawn, with concrete paved and gravelled areas to the rear. The front boundary is formed by a roughcast wall with concrete coping; the gateway comprises two modern wrought iron gates set between square roughcast piers. Side and rear boundaries are formed by hedges.

The rear return was built circa 1982, and an extension to the rear return was added circa 1987. The house is adjoined on the south-east by number 10 Church Road, a gabled house of comparable scale and materials, with which it originally formed a single cottage.