Survey Data

Reg No

60260138


Rating

National


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical


Original Use

Country house


In Use As

Country house


Date

1855 - 1865


Coordinates

326189, 221935


Date Recorded

24/11/2012


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached three-bay (three-bay deep) single-storey country house with half-attic, built 1858-60, on a square plan with full-width single-storey projecting open porch to ground floor. Vacant, 1896. Occupied, 1911. For sale, 2005. Sold, 2013. Hipped gabled slate roof on a quadrangular plan including gablets to window openings to half-attic, trefoil-perforated clay ridge tiles, granite ashlar chimney stacks including paired granite ashlar central chimney stacks to rear (north) elevation on T-shaped plans with red brick Running bond corbelled stepped stringcourses below cut-granite chamfered capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-granite "Cavetto" consoles retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered tuck pointed snecked granite walls with cut-granite flush quoins to corners. Triangular-headed central door opening approached by flight of three cut-granite steps with cut-sandstone surround having concave reveals framing timber panelled double doors. Paired square-headed window openings behind cusped openings (west) with pointed quatrefoil-perforated Caen stone balconette, and cut-granite block-and-start surround supporting red brick header bond voussoirs framing timber casement windows. Square-headed window opening behind cusped opening (east) with pointed quatrefoil-perforated Caen stone balconette, and cut-granite block-and-start surround supporting red brick header bond voussoirs framing timber casement windows. Interior including entrance hall retaining cut-granite staircase with polished brass handrails, and painted ceiling; top-lit central hall retaining encaustic tiled floor, carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, and exposed timber roof construction centred on lantern; dining room (west) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled reveals or shutters, chimneypiece, and exposed timber rafters to polygonal vaulted painted ceiling on carved timber cornice; drawing room (east) retaining carved timber surround to door opening framing timber panelled door with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled reveals or shutters, chimneypiece, and exposed timber rafters to polygonal vaulted painted ceiling on carved timber cornice; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled reveals or shutters. Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A country house erected for James Anthony Lawson QC (1817-87) to a design by Benjamin Woodward (1815-61) of Upper Merrion Street, Dublin (Building News 24th September 1858, 948), representing an important component of the mid nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of south County Dublin with the architectural value of the composition, one 'designed in the Italian medieval revival idiom and [whose] atmosphere is decidedly continental [and] reminiscent of some of the smaller Venetian palaces' (Pearson 1998, 26), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking landscaped grounds and the Irish Sea; the compact, near-square plan form centred on a restrained doorcase; the construction in a silver-grey granite offset by honey-coloured and red brick dressings not only demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also producing a muted polychromatic palette; the definition of the principal floor as an elevated "piano nobile"; and the miniature gablets embellishing a high pitched roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; 'particularly fine chimney-pieces surmounted by mirrors' (O'Dwyer 1997, 450); and vaulted ceilings decorated (1862-3) by John Hungerford Pollen (1820-1902) of London, all highlight the considerable artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjoining outbuildings (extant 1908); a walled garden (extant 1908); a glasshouse (see 60260139); and a nearby gate lodge (see 60260140), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having subsequent connections with Charles Campbell Quinn (1841-1918), 'Retired [Indian] Civil Servant [of] The Ayrshire Boarding House County Worcester [and] formerly of Clontra Shankill County Dublin' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1918, n.p.); and Dr. Harris "Harry" Tomkin (Country Life 29th May 1975, 1390-3).