Survey Data
Reg No
14935004
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Woodlands originally Kearney Ville
Original Use
Country house
In Use As
Country house
Date
1790 - 1830
Coordinates
206703, 205928
Date Recorded
14/09/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay three-storey house, built c.1810, with two-storey extension to sides, converted remains of outbuilding now abutting southern side of rear elevation, two-storey return and single- and two-storey extensions. Set within its own grounds. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and smooth rendered chimneystacks having terracotta pots. Hipped slate roofs side extensions. Smooth rendered chimneystack to hipped slate roof of return. Flat roofs to rear extensions. Pebbledashed walls with smooth rendered plinth. Timber sash windows with stone sill to ground and first floor of façade and concrete to second. Timber casement windows to extensions. Square-headed door opening to façade with replacement timber door, sidelight and overlights. Square-headed timber battened door to rear elevation. Original outbuildings have been demolished. Concrete block outbuildings to rear site with lean-to corrugated-iron roofs.
Appraisal
Modest in design, the tall Woodlands House is extended in width by flanking extensions. The stripped façade is elaborated upon by timber sash windows, the oldest of which are found on the second floor. Late eighteenth-century in style the windows contrast with the larger two-over-two sashes on the ground and first floors. As part of a group of country houses punctuating the environs of Birr, Woodlands plays its part in the architectural heritage of the historic town. Known in the early nineteenth century as Kearney Ville, the house was then owned by the Kearney family. With a change of ownership the new name of Woodlands was bestowed on the dwelling.