Riverside House

Detached three-bay two-storey house, built 1836; extant 1838, on a T-shaped plan with single-bay (single-bay deep) full-height central return (west). Occupied, 1911. For sale, 2012. Hipped slate roof on a T-shaped plan with clay ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks having stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered cut-limestone eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper-covered rendered walls. Square-headed central door opening with concealed dressings framing timber panelled door having overlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds in hollow with rendered piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping supporting wrought iron gate.

A house representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of Newport with the architectural value of the composition, one rooted firmly in the contemporary Georgian fashion, confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking the meandering Owennadarrydivva or Newport River; the compact plan form centred on an understated doorcase; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original or sympathetically replicated fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; Classical-style chimneypieces; and sleek plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1897) continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a neat self-contained ensemble having historic connections with the O'Rorke family including Dr. Frederick John William Trench O'Rorke (1871?-1951), 'Physician and Surgeon' (NA 1901; Live Stock Journal Almanac 1904, 214).