Annsborough House

Detached three-bay two-storey house, c.1845, retaining most original fenestration with round-headed door opening to centre having single-bay single-storey flat-roofed cast-iron open projecting porch to front and three-bay two-storey return to rear to south-west having single-bay single-storey cast-iron conservatory to south-west. Subsequently in use as rectory. Extended, c.1975, comprising three-bay single-storey wing to south-west at right angles to return (forming linking block). Part refenestrated, c.1990. Hipped roofs with slate (lean-to section to part return). Clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimney stacks. Cut-stone course to eaves to main block on consoles. Rendered band to eaves to remainder. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Flat-roof to porch. Materials not discerned. Hipped roof to conservatory. Glazed in cast-iron frame. Rendered walls. Unpainted (painted to part return and to wing). Square-headed window openings. Stone sills. Original 6/6 timber sash windows. Replacement uPVC casement windows, c.1990, to part first floor. Timber casement windows, c.1990, to wing. Round-headed door opening. Timber panelled double doors. Decorative fanlight. Open work cast-iron porch to front with pillars, cornice and decorative balustrade over. Round-headed openings to conservatory. Fixed-pane iron windows with fanlights over. Timber panelled door. Decorative fanlight. Set back from road in own mature landscaped grounds. Tarmacadam drive and forecourt to approach. Lawns to site.Attached two-bay single-storey outbuilding with attic, c.1845, to south-west originally detached. Renovated, c.1990. Gable-ended roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered course to eaves. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast walls to north-east elevation. Unpainted. Replacement render, c.1990, to walls to south-west. Unpainted. Square-headed window openings. Stone sills. Replacement timber casement windows, c.1990. Round-headed door opening. Timber panelled door. Overpanel.Detached five-bay two-storey outbuilding, c.1845, to south-east. Renovated, c.1990. Hipped gabled roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered course to eaves. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast walls. Unpainted. Square-headed window openings (oculus opening to centre first floor). Stone sills. Timber fittings (some now gone). Square-headed door opening. No fitting. Square-headed integral carriageway in shallow segmental relieving arch. Timber boarded double doors.Gateway, c.1845, to north-east comprising pair of open work cast-iron piers with cast-iron gates and railings having spear head finials.

Annesborough House is a fine and well-maintained middle-size mid nineteenth-century country house that retains much of its original character. Although essentially a symmetrically-planned block composed of graceful Classically-inspired proportions, the house is distinguished by the addition of a decorative cast-iron porch to the front (north-east) elevation and a fine conservatory to the south-west – such touches of ornamentation suggest that the house was originally built, and subsequently inhabited by, a series of important local landlords. The house is also of some historical interest, having once served as the rectory for the Church of Ireland clergy in the locality. Much of the original features and materials survive intact, including multi-pane timber sash fenestration (the re-instatement of traditional-style timber fenestration to the remainder, using the original surviving examples as a working model, might restore a more complete representation of the original appearance of the house), door furniture, a slate roof and the cast-iron detailing – the survival of an early external aspect serves to suggest that the interior may also retain early fittings of significance. The cast-iron work is of considerable artistic merit, whilst also being of technical interest with regards to its use as a building material for the conservatory, and is complemented by the fine gateway that announces the entrance to the estate to the north-east. Annesborough House is attractively set in its own mature landscaped grounds, approached by a winding avenue, and is complemented by a small range of outbuildings, which are individually of some architectural merit. The house, outbuildings and gateway, when grouped, are of considerable social interest, being one of the largest private properties in the Robertstown region.