Knowe Head, 45 Knowehead Road, Broughshane, Co Antrim, BT43 7LF

Knowe Head is a picturesque two-storey gentleman farmer's residence dating from 1867, set on a lofty site to the north of Broughshane and approached by a curving tree-lined drive from Knowehead Road. The house displays an asymmetric plan with steeply-pitched gable-ended dormer roof and faces west across an enclosed rear yard containing a substantial collection of rubble-constructed outbuildings, many of which predate the main dwelling.

The house is square in plan with a projecting entrance porch to the front, projecting canted bays to the south, and a two-storey return to the north. Walls are rendered with dry-dash finish and stucco quoins at the corners, standing on a rock-faced rubble-stone plinth with stone course capping. Windows are generally painted timber sliding sash 2/2 to the main house and 6/6 to the return, with stone cills and square-headed openings to the ground floor and arch-headed openings to the first floor. The roof is natural slate with plain blue-black clay ridge tiles. Yellow-brick chimneys carry yellow clay octagonal pots, with one plain rendered chimney to the rear having a slim concrete cap (replacement). The eaves feature painted timber fascia and soffit with decorative bargeboards, while cast metal ogee profile guttering and metal downpipes provide drainage, largely comprising PVC.

The front elevation is asymmetrical with two gables and the entrance porch located off-centre at their apex. The larger right-hand gable has one window centrally positioned at each floor level, with the smaller left-hand gable similarly arranged though its windows are not aligned vertically. The projecting porch has a hipped natural slate roof supported on four decorative timber posts with stone base pads and struts and braces at the eaves, resting on a single large stone step. The main doorway is square-headed and slightly recessed with plain stucco surround, featuring a painted timber panelled door with two glazed arch-headed panels at the upper section and a metal and glass pendant light above. A yellow-brick chimney carries one tall yellow clay octagonal pot and one small red-clay pot.

The rear elevation has a gable to the left with one square-headed window at first floor level, while to the right are square-headed window openings at ground and first floor levels (the ground floor window having 6/6 panes), a small adjacent window partially obscured by an oil tank mounted on a concrete base, and a plain rendered replacement chimney with slim concrete cap.

The south elevation is symmetrical with two single-storey canted bays at ground level flanking a centrally located window, topped by a gable with a window over each bay. The bays are tri-partite with stone surrounds and flat roofs, featuring roll-moulded mullions and large chamfered cornices, with oversized decorative timber brackets at the eaves.

The north elevation is plain with three gables featuring clipped verges. The right gable has exposed rubble-stone walls and a square-headed window at first floor level. The left gable is rendered with two square-headed casement windows at first floor level (possibly replacements) and a door opening at ground level with glazed overlight. Attached to the central gable is a large rectangular two-storey return with rendered walls, clipped verges, and asbestos slate roof. The east and west facades of the return each have one square-headed window opening at ground and first floor levels with 6/6 sliding sash windows, while the gable features a yellow-brick chimney with slim concrete capping and two tall yellow clay octagonal pots. A single-storey extension attached to the central gable, possibly incorporating original walls of an earlier house, was in the process of being demolished at the time of survey.