MERVILLE GARDEN VILLAGE
Shore Road
Whitehouse, Newtownabbey
County Antrim
Northern Ireland
Merville Garden Village was named after the 18th century Merville House which still stands. It was built by Ulster Garden Villages Ltd; a company owned by builder Thomas McGrath, between 1947 - 49 and was the first housing development of this kind in Ireland. The design of the village was influenced by the French architecture McGrath had seen when serving in France during WW1.
The architect Edward Prentice Mawson chosen for the project as McGrath's site manager. They had worked together in England. Mawson became the consultant architect for McGrath's other Garden Village schemes in Northern Ireland.
Apartments, cottage flats, terraces, semi-detached houses and shops are set in a landscaped setting close to the coastline. It has a unique character that is a mixture of rural suburbia and modernist influenced continental blocks.
Conservation Area since 1995
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merville_Garden_Village