Magheramorne House, 59 Shore Road, Magheramorne, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 3HW

Magheramorne House is a large two-storey stone building with gabled attics, laid out on an asymmetrical plan. The main entrance faces south-west. The entrance elevation comprises a main two-storey L-shaped block with the main entrance positioned in the angle of a projecting gable to the left. Extending from the left-hand end is a lower gabled wing, part of the original composition. Extending to the right-hand end is a lower twin-gabled wing, a mid-to-late 20th century addition which imitates some features of the original building. This modern wing is linked at the front to the original entrance by a later long flat-roofed stone-walled conservatory.

The roofs of the main block are covered in Bangor Blue slates laid in regular courses, though these are later replacement materials. Red terracotta ridge tiles complete the roofline. The walls are constructed of snecked rough-faced greystone with red ashlar sandstone quoins, block surrounds to windows, and chamfered string courses. Moulded cast iron gutters sit on chamfered red sandstone eaves courses, with rectangular cast iron downpipes fitted with moulded and coved hoppers. The gables feature red sandstone copings with stone ball finials. Modern metal flood-lighting lamps are affixed to the apex of the main gables on the entrance front. The chimneys are built of similar walling to the main house, with tall caps of battered profile and three or four plain pots to each stack.

The windows throughout are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, one-over-one with horns. They have chamfered reveals and are set below Gothic relieving arches in greystone. The elevation of the main block comprises, from right to left: a tall projecting gable with two windows to the ground floor and first floor, one window to the attic, surmounted by a circular red sandstone panel containing a blank shield, with a tall chimney across the ridge behind; a projecting flat-roofed entrance bay with three windows to the first floor in the wall beyond, without relieving arches, and a gabled dormer above comprising a red sandstone surround to the window surmounted by a greystone gable with slate-hung cheeks; two gables, the right-hand one broader and higher, each containing one window to the first floor and one to the attic.

The main entrance is contained in a flat-roofed porch comprising unfluted Doric columns and pilasters of red sandstone projecting from the front plane of the main left-hand gable. A short bay, one window wide, sits between the porch and the gable. The short bay and porch are surmounted by a red sandstone parapet ornamented with repeated shield panels. In the centre of the porch parapet is a large shield carved with a heraldic design. Large moulded ball finials mark each corner of the porch. The window to the left of the porch is sashed as previously described, but the lower sash contains leaded glazing with a heraldic panel.

Projecting from between the columns of the porch is a modern glazed porch of octagonal plan, timber-framed on low walls of reconstituted stone which repeat the cill and plinth mouldings of the original building. Double doors on two faces are reached by flights of concrete steps. The glazed panels of the modern porch have segmental heads, an inappropriate design.

Stepping back to the right of the original porch is a modern conservatory constructed of reconstituted stone which continues the line of the string courses of the original porch. The conservatory front is of lean-to form, timber-framed and glazed with segmental heads, in two main runs between projecting piers. Moulded PVC gutters serve the conservatory, with a circular PVC downpipe at the left-hand extremity emerging directly from below the parapet string course. Rectangular metal downpipes with metal hoppers are fitted to the central pier and to the right-hand pier.

To the right of the conservatory stand the twin gables of the modern wing, constructed of concrete brick. Each gable has one window and one door to the ground floor. The rectangular timber doors are six-panelled with fanlights above. The rectangular timber windows are top-hung over fixed lights, with chamfered surrounds. A projecting string course serves as cills, made of concrete. Rectangular metal downpipes with moulded hoppers of different design from the main house are fitted, along with circular surrounds to vent grilles in each gable.

The side wall of the projecting front return of the main block has a Bangor Blue slated roof as previously described, with one window to the first floor and cast iron guttering and downpipes. To the left-hand side of the return gable is a low lateral link block connecting with the gabled wing. The walls are as previously described, with roofs of Westmorland green slates in diminishing courses and red terracotta ridge tiles. Moulded PVC gutters and PVC downpipes are fitted. One doorway at ground level to the link block was originally a window but now contains a rectangular six-panelled door with a narrow rectangular fanlight of wired glass. A red sandstone block surround with stop-chamfering is present to the right-hand jamb, while the left-hand jamb has a new smooth cement-rendered reveal. To the right of the new doorway is a blocked-up window.

At basement level there is a window sashed as previously described and a doorway enlarged from an original window. To each side wall of the basement court is an original window with a Gothic relieving arch, the one to the right sashed two-over-two. The basement court is traversed by a modern steel fire escape stairway and balcony.

The gable to the left contains two windows sashed as previously described, with Gothic relieving arches, surmounted by a red sandstone shield in a circular surround in the apex. The lower sashes of each window have leaded glazing of heraldic pattern as previously noted. To the right of the windows is a circular cast iron soil pipe with trefoil-shaped brackets. A large chimney crosses the ridge of the wing, as previously described but with a battered profile to the right-hand side of the stack.

Projecting forward from the left-hand extremity of the wing is a low wall of arcaded balustrading in red sandstone surmounting a retaining wall which accommodates the steep slope down to the west elevation.

The north-west elevation of the main block is two-storey and symmetrically designed. The roof is of Bangor Blue slates as previously described, with four gabled stone dormers detailed as before and two chimneys. Moulded gutters with two rectangular metal downpipes and moulded cast iron hoppers are fitted. Four windows to the first floor beyond the link block are rectangular timber without relieving arches. The first and third from the front contain a recessed red sandstone panel to the head. To the right of the windows on the first floor, in front of the link block, is a red sandstone roundel with a plain shield. In the ground floor below is a rectangular window with a relieving arch.

The north-west elevation of the wing is two-storey. The lower storey is the basement, while the upper storey is level with the ground floor of the main house and wing. The walling is as previously described to the entrance front. The roof is of Westmorland green slates in diminishing courses between gable upstands, with red terracotta ridge tiles and a central chimney with battered front face and rear faces. To the left of the chimney is a gabled wooden dormer containing a rectangular timber window sashed as previously described, with projecting barge boards with a wooden collar supported on shaped brackets. A wooden finial with turned ends sits above tongued and grooved boarding to the apex of the gable. The roof is of Westmorland green slates on projecting rafters, with similar slates to the cheeks. A moulded cast iron gutter, broken near the left-hand end, is fitted, along with a square cast iron downpipe with moulded hopper in the corner with the projecting gable to the right.

The elevation comprises, from left to right: small rectangular timber louvres in an undressed opening to the extreme left-hand side of the lower storey, followed by two rectangular windows to each floor, with Gothic relieving arches and splayed cills to the lower storey; a slightly projecting gable to the right containing a triplet of rectangular windows sashed as previously described, with a relieving arch to each one, in the upper floor, surmounted by a shield in a roundel; a narrow rectangular window sashed as previously described with a splayed cill to the lower storey, grouped with a rectangular doorway below a wide relieving arch. The timber ledged door has a rectangular fanlight. A narrow rectangular opening with a splayed cill contains wooden louvres to the right-hand side of the gable, with a downpipe and hopper in the angle as previously described to the other side. A low single-storey bay to the right-hand extremity contains a rectangular doorway with a timber louvred door and a relieving arch over, surmounted by arcaded balustrading.

The north-east elevation, facing the garden, presents two gables broken forward from the main face, each containing two-storey splayed bays with steep roofs dressed in buff sandstone. The recessed main face is symmetrical, with four windows to the first floor—rectangular timber sashed as previously described, without relieving arches—and three windows below with a doorway to the right-hand side, all with relieving arches. The main face and quoins to the flanking gables are dressed in red sandstone as on the entrance front. The roofs are of Bangor Blue slates in regular courses, with two stone dormers to the main roof as previously described and two chimneys. A moulded gutter with a square cast iron downpipe and moulded cast iron hopper in the angle with the left-hand gable is fitted. A circular PVC soil pipe to the centre is a later addition that has caused the red sandstone string course to be crudely broken through.

The canted bays are dressed in buff sandstone ashlar, with relieving arches over windows in the ground floor. Moulded chamfers to the windows have rectangular top corners to the ground floor but rounded top corners to the first floor. The door in the main face is rectangular timber, varnished oak, panelled and glazed, with an original ornamented bronze doorknob and a rectangular fanlight. It has recessed red sandstone reveals and is reached by two flights of buff sandstone steps with a short sandstone plinth wall, leading up from the terrace and grassy slope below.

To the right-hand side of the north-east elevation, set back from the main face by the depth of one window, is a two-storey link and gabled wing with roofs of Westmorland green slates as previously described, moulded cast iron gutters, and rectangular cast iron downpipes. Two windows to the upper floor of the link are sashed as previously described, with a door and window below, all without relieving arches. To the right is a taller gable containing two windows on each floor, sashed as previously described, with relieving arches to the upper floor, surmounted by a smaller sashed window with a relieving arch to the apex of the gable.

To the left-hand side of the north-east elevation, set back slightly from the main face, is a single-storey link block ending in a taller twin-gabled wing, all in concrete brickwork. Four rectangular windows are present in the link block, with two windows and doorways to the upper floor of each gable of the wing, all similar in detailing to the entrance front. A large steel fire escape stairway on large steel supports dog-legs up to the south-east face of the main block. Bangor Blue slates cover the front sloping face of the roof of the link block, with a flat lead roof and a flat roof covered in stone pebbles beyond. The roof of the wing is of Bangor Blue slates and red terracotta ridge tiles as previously described.

The south-east elevation of the original building has the ground floor obscured by the lower link block. The first floor has three windows and a doorway enlarged from a window. The windows are sashed as previously described, without relieving arches. The door is flush wooden ply with a top-hung fanlight. A moulded gutter with a rectangular cast iron downpipe and hopper is fitted, along with circular PVC soil pipes. The roof is of Bangor Blue slates as previously described, with three gabled sandstone dormers detailed as before and one chimney. The south-east elevation of the wing is of similar character to its other faces.

Setting and Grounds

The building stands on an elevated site within its own extensive grounds, set well back from the main road and mostly hidden by trees, though its roofline and upper areas are just visible above them. To the front of the house is a tarmac car parking area fringed by grassed areas. The lawn to the south contains a circular pool with carved stone wellheads in Renaissance style, of European origin, standing close by.

To the rear of the house is a terraced garden of lawns and modern pavings bordered by trimmed hedges. It contains an ornamental fountain in a revived Renaissance style of late 19th century date but in very damaged condition, and various stone plant pots on pedestals in classical style. A small pedestrian gateway with a pair of ornamental wrought iron gates leads down steps to a terrace garden with distant views to Larne Lough. The main feature of the lower garden is a stone statue on a pedestal in classical style.

The grounds beyond the terraced gardens and forecourt are picturesque, with meandering paths, ponds, and a flowing stream close to the house. Hidden among trees to the west of the main driveway is a small single-storey garden store, presumably contemporary with the main house, built of basalt rubble with red brick quoins and dressings to the doorway and window. It has a red brick eaves course and a hipped roof of Bangor Blue slates. The timber windows are now derelict, as is the timber ledged door. The interior has a concrete floor and whitened rubble walls. The structure is semi-derelict and of no special interest.

In the most northerly corner of the grounds stands the original main entrance gateway, with the contemporary gate lodge adjacent. The gate lodge is in separate ownership. The original main entrance gateway comprises a pair of square piers, now without gates, with short basalt rubble walls to each end, ramped up to the piers and breaking forward at the extremities with curved screen walls which terminate in smaller piers. The main piers are of red sandstone with a basalt rubble plinth and a swept pyramidal sandstone cap surmounted by a ball finial. The end piers are of similar character but plainer treatment. Dressed sandstone copings and weatherings are present to the plinth. Low basalt boundary walls with basalt rock copings return forward from the end piers and extend along the front boundary to the left. Rougher quality boundary walling of basalt and limestone rubble extends to the right.

To the south-east of the original gateway is a new entrance driveway with a wide splayed basalt rubble entrance gateway comprising two sets of circular piers with shallow conical caps, of not very appropriate design. There are no gates. A polished marble name plaque in each splayed wall of the entrance is inscribed 'Historic Building 1880. Restored 1981'. The boundary walling continues to the left of the new gateway. The new driveway is lined with modern lamp standards in antique style.

To the south-east of the main house stand the contemporary outbuildings, and to the north-east corner of the grounds stands an ice house.