Strathmore, 5 Horner's Lane, Rostrevor, Co Down, BT34 3EJ

Strathmore is a relatively large, somewhat sprawling but generally plain two- to three-storey house which assumed its present form in 1874, when an existing dwelling of probable mid-18th century construction was enlarged and remodelled, probably to designs by architect William James Watson of Newry. It is an unusual building with an interesting history, having begun as the miller's residence associated with a nearby corn mill. It survives as an interesting palimpsest in which the original Georgian section can be easily distinguished from the Victorian additions, with the whole largely intact externally. The surveyors had access only to the frontage of the property, and what follows is consequently a partial survey.

Setting

The house is set within leafy surroundings to the east of Horner's Lane, within the southern suburbs of Rostrevor, approximately 0.23 kilometres south of the village centre. Immediately to the north are three closely grouped houses (nos. 7, 7A and 9) fronting onto Horner's Lane, with another (no. 3) further to the west and north-west. To the south, east and west lies an extensive wooded area, bounded relatively close by to the east by the Rostrevor or Kilbroney River.

Form and Plan

The building has a complex, asymmetric plan, reflecting its two stages of construction. The main, original two-storey gabled block is set roughly on an east–west axis (actually north-west to south-east), with the main entrance, contained within a projecting porch, facing south. To the west end of the rear of this block is a full-height double-pile return, the western pile of which has a hipped roof. To the east end there is a large north–south wing, which is two storeys and gable-fronted to the south, but taller to the north; this appears to be partly due to a rise in ground level, though this northern part of the building also appears to contain an attic storey. Branching off to the east of this taller section is a large gabled projection of the same height.

Walls and Roof

The walls appear to be entirely finished in painted roughcast with smooth rendered quoins. The roof is covered in natural slate, with tall rendered chimneystacks and plain bargeboards. The projection to the east has exposed rafter ends, while on the south side of the taller northern section there is a small multi-sided dormer with a hipped roof. Rainwater goods appear to be cast iron.

Windows and Doors

All window openings that could be observed are flat-headed with bevelled reveals, painted stone cills, and plain one-over-one timber sash frames. Many of those to the front of the original section are noticeably narrower than the rest. Of the doorways, only the main entrance could be seen clearly. This consists of a panelled timber door set within a typically High Victorian Gothic style timber porch, similar to those seen in other houses designed by William James Watson in Horner's Lane.

Elevations

South (front) elevation: This is the only elevation that could be seen in its entirety. The arrangement is asymmetric, with the entrance positioned roughly to the centre. To the far left is a full-height canted bay with three windows to each floor and a hipped roof. To the left of this on the ground floor is a single window, then the entrance porch, with another window to its right. To the right is a full-height gabled projection forming the end of the north–south wing, with a window to the ground floor. At first-floor level, to the right of the canted bay, there are four windows, with a further window in the gabled bay to the right.

West elevation: This consists of the west side of the rear return and, to the right, the gable of the original block. It could not be seen in its entirety, but there appears to be a window to the first floor of the return.

East elevation: This is made up of the side of the north–south wing. To the far left there is a full-height canted bay matching that to the front. Immediately to its right is the gable of the projecting wing, but beyond this the elevation could not be seen. There appears to be a doorway or French window on the south-facing side of the gabled projection.

North (rear) elevation: This could not be seen at all, but would appear to consist of the gable of the north–south wing to the far left and the double-pile return to the far right.

History

The area of Rostrevor immediately west of the Kilbroney River, in the vicinity of the present Horner's Lane, was formerly known as Mill Vale or Mill Bank, a name derived from a corn mill that once stood there. According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1836, this was a slated building in good repair, built around 1760. The mill is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1833 as a long, roughly rectangular structure, with two other blocks of similar size and shape to the south and west, the former being the miller's dwelling house and the other an outbuilding. In the 1835 valuation the house is recorded as a relatively old, slated structure measuring 44 feet by 22 by 16, while the mill itself comprised sections measuring 17 by 24 by 22 feet and 44 by 24 by 17 feet, a corn kiln of 16 by 17 by 12 feet, and an outbuilding of 64 by 17 by 13 feet, all of similar age to the house. As the Memoirs suggest, all these structures may date from around 1760, though no firm evidence has been found to confirm this. No buildings are indicated in this part of the settlement on the 1767 map, though that map, drawn up by the Downshire estate to show the line of a then-new road from Eight Mile Bridge, is not particularly detailed.

In 1819 the mill was in the hands of a Samuel Wilson, who continued leasing it from the Reverend James Anderson, then Chaplain of Warrenpoint, until at least 1836. At some point before around 1860, the complex was divided between a number of tenants: Miss Jane Mayne held the dwelling house, Isaac Scott held the mill, and Mary Souter occupied another residence on the site that appears to have been created from the outbuilding to the west. The dimensions for the house quoted in the 1861 valuation are similar to those recorded previously, although by that point a single-storey return of 5 yards by 4 and a single-storey outbuilding of 6 by 4 had been added to the rear (north) and the eastern side of the building respectively.

Reverend James Anderson died in 1869, and at some point before 1872 the entire Mill Vale plot was acquired — either on a long lease or freehold, it is not clear — by Edward Greer (1832–1912) of Moygannon, who set about its redevelopment. Almost immediately he commissioned architect William James Watson of Newry to design a new terrace of four Gothic-style dwellings at the northern limit of the site, known as Avoca Terrace, of which only two were ultimately built. He also demolished the mill, reclaimed the adjacent mill pond, and erected a new house in similar red brick Gothic style called The Willows in their stead. At the same time, he created the present Strathmore by extending and remodelling the former miller's dwelling, adding the large wing to the east-north-east, the returns to the north, the canted bays and the porch. A valuer's annotation of 1873 records the east wing as 8 yards by 5 by 23 feet, the north wing as 5 yards by 11 by 23 feet, a stable of 6 yards by 8 by 23 feet, and a coach house of 8 yards by 8 by 15 feet. The detailing of the porch suggests that Watson may also have been responsible for this scheme, and there is an entry in the Irish Builder in September 1872 referring to a tender being awarded to one Rantin for alterations to a house at Rostrevor for Edward Greer, with Mr W. James Watson C.E. named as architect.

This much grander residence was completed in 1874 and leased to Francis Horner (born circa 1818), then agent for the Newry Branch of the Bank of Ireland, who in 1886 added a gate lodge at the entrance to the west of the property. The 1901 census records the house as a first-class dwelling consisting of 14 rooms with 9 outbuildings immediately to the north and west, occupied by the 83-year-old Horner along with his widowed daughter Anna Kirk Liddell (born circa 1859), her three daughters, a governess, and four servants. Horner died around 1908–09 and the property passed to Mrs Liddell, who in 1911 leased it to an Amy Lloyd and then, in 1916, to William Chambre, possibly a member of the Chambre family of Hawthorn Hill, Killevy. Mary Chambre, William's widow, is listed as occupant from 1926 and appears to have remained there until her death in October 1945.

The house was advertised to let shortly afterwards, described as a very desirable and attractive residence with three reception rooms, five bedrooms, a bathroom, a servants' room, a kitchen, and pantries. It does not appear to have found a tenant, and was offered for sale the following April 1946, the sale advertisement also mentioning extensive fruit and vegetable gardens, greenhouses, pleasure grounds, a gate lodge containing a sitting room, kitchen and two bedrooms, a field, tennis court, lawns, rose gardens, two large greenhouses, a potting house, an enclosed yard with a garage, and ample outbuildings.

The sequence of ownership and occupation after this is not fully clear. A Mr and Mrs George Harris appear to have been in residence from at least late 1949 until around 1958. Dr and Mrs M. McVerry were living here in late 1966, and the property remains with their descendants, though it is no longer occupied.