39 Seaview, Warrenpoint, Newry, Co Down, BT34

39 Seaview, Warrenpoint, is a striking two-storey post-Second World War chalet-style house designed by architect Henry Lynch Robinson. It remains substantially intact and represents an important example of post-war residential architecture in the area.

The house is prominently located on the north side of Seaview in an elevated garden. It is two storeys high with a pitched roof aligned north-south, clad in natural Westmoreland slate with overhanging eaves. The south end of both the west and east elevations are abutted by single-storey returns. The first-floor gable at the south end projects over the ground floor and opens onto a balcony. Rubble stone clad chimneys break the eaves of the east and west pitches. The front south-facing walls are finished with vertical varnished timber weatherboarding, while the remainder of the building is constructed in red brick. The plain timber bargeboard to the south gable has exposed purlin ends.

The front elevation is arranged in three distinct bays with full-width glazing. The central bay at ground floor contains four windows and a glazed door at the right end. The first-floor gable, which opens onto the balcony, has a weatherboarded central panel flanked by three windows in a linear common opening on both sides.

The east elevation is in brick, three bays wide and two storeys high. The ground floor left bay is abutted by the single-storey east return. The centre bay serves as a carport, whilst the right bay contains a large metal up-and-over garage door. At first floor, a window opens onto a flat-roofed patio to the left, with a chimneybreast to its right and a glazed door beyond. Six square windows in a linear common opening with weatherboarded aprons are positioned to the right of the door, with three square windows in a linear common opening over the garage doors at the right.

The north gable of the two-storey block is blank. The west elevation is two storeys high and three bays wide. The ground floor centre bay is a carport, whilst the left bay has a painted tongue-and-groove sheeted door into the garage. At first floor, the left bay contains four small square metal-framed windows in separate openings with concrete cills. The central and right bays at first floor are weatherboarded; the right bay has a single window, with a chimneybreast to its left and seven narrow windows in a linear common opening at eaves level beyond.

The carport interior is brick, with the main entrance on its south side—a varnished glazed timber door with matching screen to its left. A weatherboarded door with plainly glazed transom over provides access to the garage on the carport's north side.

The single-storey east return has a flat asphalted roof that serves as a roof-top patio, wrapping around the front gable as a balcony and enclosed by a modern geometric steel railing. The balcony is supported by broad rubble stone buttresses to the west and east sides of the south gable, tapering to the front and detailed as the chimneys. The south elevation contains seven similar windows with heads at eaves level. The east elevation is blank brick. The north elevation is flush with the south cheek of the carport and is in brick with a varnished weatherboarded door with plainly glazed transom, and a small square metal-framed window to its right.

The west return has a felted flat roof. Its south elevation is five windows wide, each with a top-hung transom. The west elevation is blank brick. The north elevation contains a large casement window set slightly right of centre.

Internally, the house reflects an informal approach to layout, with the kitchen positioned to the front. Features of interest include stone feature walls, glazed screens, original fixtures and fittings, and a pressed aluminium fitted kitchen.

The site was purchased by the present owner in 1950. At that time, an early 19th-century house known as Catherine Lodge stood on the site; it was derelict and soon demolished. Robinson's design cost £32,000 to build, including the site. Robinson also designed Greenwood Primary School on Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, and a house at 110 Malone Road, Belfast.

The front boundary comprises a concrete-coped rubble stone dwarf wall carrying a modern geometric steel railing. A convex driveway entrance is marked by low rubble stone piers carrying matching gates. The front garden contains a lawn and shrubs, with a large car parking area to the rear and gates opening onto Springfield Road.