Droagh Cottage, 175 Coast Road, Droagh, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 2LF

Droagh Cottage is a detached house dating from approximately 1840 to 1859, situated on an open coastal site in well-maintained grounds. It is an attractive and conspicuous building with largely unspoiled 19th-century exterior detailing. The original part of the cottage is a one-and-a-half storey, three-bay structure built of stone and finished with roughcast rendering. A two-storey, L-shaped extension runs to the rear, creating a small courtyard accessible through a pair of square gate piers topped with urn finials. The primary entrance, facing west, is symmetrical, with a window flanking either side of the central door and gables featuring chimneys. The roofs are slated and gabled, with overhanging eaves, except for the flat roof of the porch which is covered with asphalt. Rainwater goods are cast iron, with the exception of a plastic gutter on the porch. Windows are small-paned wooden sash windows throughout, with modern roof vents to a rear return within the courtyard. The windows of the front cottage are set within rectangular stucco architraves, while those of the extension are in plain reveals. Painted stone quoins mark the external corners, except for a rounded corner on the ground floor return wing. A single-storey canted bay projects from the north gable of the cottage, and two-storey canted bays are present on the long side and rear elevations of the extension. A projecting, pilastered entrance porch is a key architectural feature, with small-paned French windows and fanlights – all featuring a Georgian glazing pattern – at each end. However, some original mouldings have been removed to create an open-fronted porch. The porch floor is laid with a single panel of original coloured geometric patterned tiles, but the front door and glazed side-lights are modern. The house stands within attractive and well-kept grounds, approached through a pair of plain, roughcast and rendered gate piers topped with urn finials. The original cottage with its rear return first appeared on an Ordnance Survey map of 1857. An extension and upper storey were added in 1867 to a design by Belfast architect William Hastings, for Sir Edward Coey.