Ardchapel, Shore Road, Shandon

Ardchapel is a villa of 1854, designed by James Smith, with a circa 1865 gabled wing addition. It occupies an elevated terrace and is constructed on an asymmetrical, rambling plan. The main body of the house is harled with pink and white sandstone ashlar margins, while a later bay on the south side features squared and snecked sandstone. Quoin strips are present, along with projecting eaves and exposed rafters.

The west elevation is the principal facade, featuring a three-bay original block with a later advanced bay to the south, and a lower, single-storey block attached to the outer left. A broad, gabled bay to the left has a full-height, corniced canted window, a dividing cornice, and a shield in the gablehead. A four-panelled door with an Edinburgh handle and a large plate glass fanlight is located in the bay to the right of the entrance, accessed by stone steps (now partially covered by a modern porch). Windows are symmetrically disposed on the first floor. An advanced gabled block to the right incorporates an ashlar bay with a shield in the gablehead. This block features a canted window on the ground floor, which corbels to a square form at the first floor, topped by a substantial six-light window. A string-course separates the floors. A single-storey block is attached to the main house by a link bay; a window in the gable of this advanced block previously supported a chimney stack, which is now truncated.

The east elevation appears higher due to the ground level. A broad gable is advanced to the right, with a bipartite window at the centre. Windows are symmetrically disposed on the left return, utilising 12-pane, lying-pane glazing. A narrow gable to the left has a small window at ground level and another at first floor, with a blind arrowslit in the gablehead.

The south elevation is asymmetrical, with bipartite windows at both ground and first floor levels, and gabled dormerheads.

Plate glass sash and case windows feature on the west elevation, while the north elevation of the single-storey block has 18-pane, lying-pane glazing. The roof is covered in grey slate, with tall coped apex and ridge stacks topped by octagonal cans.

The interior was not inspected in 1993.

To the north of the house is a single and two-storey, gabled, L-plan stable block constructed of rubble with stugged pink sandstone dressings and chamfered reveals. The stable block has bracketed eaves. The south elevation of the stables is asymmetrical with five bays, featuring a broad gable to the right with a blocked hoist door. A long range to the left includes a door, a carriage entrance, another door and a window. The east elevation of the stables is asymmetrical, with a two-story, M-gabled section to the right and a single-storey, two-bay section to the left, with eight-pane sash and case windows and a grey slate roof with coped apex stacks.