Lisnacree House, Newry Road/Lisnacree Lane Junction, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4SE

Lisnacree House is a late Victorian villa in two storeys, set on an informal plan with a stable yard and outhouses, all now ruinous. It stands in a small mature demesne on the north side of Newry Road near Kilkeel.

The main house plan forms an L-shape with its west-facing base. A rear return projects to the east end of the north elevation, and a quarter circular entrance porch sits in the inner angle of the L. The L-shaped main roof, now nearly gone, was hipped and covered in natural slate with blue clay ridges. Four brick chimneys with plain ashlar granite copings (without pots) rise from the structure. Semicircular metal rainwater goods—now largely vanished—rested on a projecting ashlar granite eaves course supported on paired granite corbel brackets.

The walls of the main block are constructed of granite rubble with brick dressings. Window and door openings feature finely gauged brick heads with brick-lined reveals, all line-rendered. The ashlar granite basecourse is raised and chamfered, with flush stepped ashlar quoins at the corners.

The main entrance porch, located in the inner angle of the L, forms a quadrant and appears to have had a quadrant cone roof (marks in the render above indicate this shape). A single moulded granite step follows the curve of the porch. The porch contains a central doorway with a sliding sash window to each side. The inner walls of the porch are rendered as the main external walls. At the left side is the inner entrance door, consisting of two three-panelled painted timber leaves with a fixed glazed transom light above. At the right side stands a semicircular-headed blind arch containing a fixed timber window with a canted cill and moulded timber architrave; this opening originally served as a service door, as infill below confirms. To the left of the porch is a blind window, with a similar blind window above it. Above the porch to the right is a window opening. To the right of the porch is a blind window, with a window opening at first floor above. All external windows to the façade are similar in size, and remaining evidence suggests all were 2/2 sliding sashes.

The south elevation is two bays wide. The left bay is slightly advanced and has two window openings to each floor. The right bay displays a similar window configuration. The western elevation of the main house has two windows to each floor. The north elevation is three bays wide. The left bay is abutted by a two-storey return. The central bay contains a tongue-and-groove sheeted door with a two-pane overlight and a narrow 1/1 sliding sash window to its left. Between ground and first floor on the left is a large 6/6 spoke-headed sliding sash window. The right bay has a window opening to the ground floor. The east elevation of the main house has two 2/2 sliding sashes at ground floor level with a single window centred above. To the right is the east wall of the rear return.

The rear return is in two stages. The stage abutting the main block is two storeys high, while the second stage is single storey. It has a pitched natural slate roof with a single red brick chimney. The walls match those of the main block but lack ashlar dressings. The rear gable, north-facing and single storey, fronts the yard and features a tongue-and-groove sheeted door with a three-paned mouth-organ transom above. An apex timber louvred vent sits in the gable above. The left cheek is flush with the east wall of the main house and has no openings to its two-storey section but two 2/2 sliding sashes to its single storey section. The right cheek has a large tripartite window flanked by 2/2 windows at ground floor level of its two-storey section and three small 2/2 windows to its single storey section. The exposed gable of the two-storey section of the return displays a pair of 2/2 sliding sash windows.

The rear yard is enclosed to the north and east by outbuildings, to the west by a high wall with gates and a lane to Lisnacree Lane, and to the south-east by a gateway to the front gardens. The yard is paved in granite sets, and the walls are rubble granite with brick dressings.

The northern range of buildings is five bays wide. The two left bays are single storey and share a common pitched natural slate roof, both having large pairs of tongue-and-groove sheeted doors, apparently former coach houses. The remaining northern bays are contained within a two-storey block with pitched natural slate roof. The first bay from the left has a timber sheeted door and a fixed window. The second bay has a central door flanked by windows. The third bay is accessed through a single door mirrored by a rear door and is abutted to the right by the east block. The upper floor of this block has a single window in line with each ground floor opening.

The east block is single storey and four bays wide, with a pitched natural slate roof hipped at the south end and partially flattened to accommodate an external water tank. The walls are rubble as before. The left bay is double the width of the others and is accessed by two segmental-headed arched doorways. Each remaining bay is narrow with a single opening; the rightmost has a wrought iron gate fronted by a narrow raised pavement and mountings for a pump.

The west gates, now gone, were hung from a pair of rubble granite piers with pyramidal caps. At the end of the access lane at Lisnacree Lane stands a pair of ashlar piers supporting large wrought iron gates. The south-east gate has large ashlar piers with a raised chamfered basecourse and pyramidal caps (the eastern one toppled), supporting a pair of large tongue-and-groove sheeted gates.

The informally planted front garden is wild with very overgrown shrubs and ornamental trees. To the west of the house are the remains of a herb garden and ruins of what appear to be a conservatory and pergola walk. The original drive entrance has been infilled by a modern granite wall, with no trace remaining. Part of the drive survives, sweeping in an S-curve from the main road.