Former Lighthouse Keepers Houses at Blackhead Lighthouse, McCrea's Brae, Whitehead, Co Antrim, BT38 9NZ

These semi-detached two-storey (+ semi-basement) former lighthouse keepers’ houses of 1902 are aligned north-south immediately west of the lighthouse, to which they are connected by a single-storey passage. They form an H-plan and each house is an identically detailed mirror image of the other. The roofs are of hipped profile and clad with natural slates. There are rendered chimneys at each end (four yellow clay pots) and at centre (two pots). The rainwater goods are of cast-iron and the gutters of ogee profile. The walls are painted and rendered (probably over stone). A projecting course of yellow brick runs along the eaves, with a dentillated course underneath. All openings have square heads and those to the windows have painted shouldered granite cills. The houses’ principal elevations face east towards the sea. A veranda is formed by a monopitched natural slate roof between their projecting ends. There is an beaded tongue-and-groove entrance door into each house on the inside cheeks of the veranda. In front of the veranda is a balcony over the basement, accessed by a flight of steps up each side. The balcony also continues as a walkway along the roof of the linking passage to the lighthouse. Most of the windows to this elevation are 6/6 sliding sashes. The exceptions are small 2/2 sashes at each end of the veranda and 4/4 sashes to the basement. The latter also has an emergency escape door (probably a recent insertion). Both the north and south elevations have single 6/6 sliding sash windows to the ground and first floors. The west (rear) elevation has a single-storey section between its end returns, containing a back door (beaded tongue-and-groove) and small 6/6 sash to each house. The exposed first floor wall above has a 2/2 sash to each house. Abutting the middle of the single-storey section are two single-storey outbuildings (one to each house). A high wall encloses a yard at the back of each house, with doorways to outside on its west elevation. Roof: Natural slate. Walling: Probably rubble stone. Windows: Mainly 6/6 timber sliding sashes RWG: Ogee cast-iron gutters.