Sunninghill

Detached five-bay two-storey International Style house, built in 1936, comprising projecting three-bay two-storey main block with curved porch to front (east) elevation, single-bay single-storey extension to south elevation and curved single-storey bay to rear (west) elevation. Rendered parapet having render eaves course, stepped motifs to corners and rendered chimneystacks. Rendered walls with render plinth course and platbands beneath window openings. Square-headed openings having render surrounds and replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed wrap-around window to rear. Square-headed strip window to front elevation, first floor with render surround, brick jambs and replacement uPVC windows. Recessed square-headed openint to porch having render surround and keystone over half-glazed timber panelled door. Pair of square-profile rubble stone piers to south with single-leaf timber doors.

Sunninghill is an interesting example of one of the International Style houses, which were built in Castletroy in the 1930s. It was built on the same site as Cooleen. The houses were built by the architects Messrs Clifford and Newenham for a specific socio-economic group of middle class professional men, and in the case of Cooleen and Sunninghill, they were built for two brothers Richard and Victor Hewson, who were both executives in Rank Mills. Sunninghill was the larger of the two houses and accommodated Richard and his family. The desire for sun-filled south-facing rooms is shown in the corner windows and the covered loggia which forms a railed balcony. This building is an appealing example of its type and an interesting addition to the twentieth-century architectural heritage of Limerick County.