32 High Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5HL

Two storey vernacular house of probable pre-1834 origin, situated in the middle of a terrace on the south-east side of High Street in Comber. The building stands on a slope rising north-east to south-west.

The front, north-west facing façade features a doorway to the left on the ground floor with a timber panelled and glazed door set within a painted stone surround with keystone. To the right of the doorway is a double sash window with glazing bars to the top sashes, each window containing 4 panes over 1. Further right is an elliptical carriage entrance with double timber sheeted doors. On the first floor are two sash windows with Georgian panes of 6 over 6, positioned above the ground floor window and above the coach arch respectively.

To the right at the rear is a small single-storey return with a mono-pitched roof. The south-west face of this return contains a doorway at the centre, similar in style to the front but with a large single pane of glazing, flanked by relatively small sash windows with horizontal glazing bars of 2 over 2. The south-east face of the return is blank. On the main rear façade, immediately to the left of the return, is a sash window matching those on the return. To its left is the rear of the carriage entrance. The first floor contains a window matching the ground floor pattern, with two further windows to the right.

The front façade is finished in plain render while the rear and return are finished in rough cast. The entire façade is painted. The gabled roof is covered in natural slate, as is the return roof. Rendered chimney stacks sit at the centre and south-west end of the roof ridge. Aluminium rainwater goods are fitted.

Historical records indicate this site was occupied in 1722. The present house is likely that recorded in the 1834 valuation as the home of Alexander Gibson. Valuers noted the property and the rest of the terrace were of reasonable age at that time, probably dating from the 1790s or slightly later. The entire terrace on this side is believed to have once housed workers from the nearby brewery, later the Upper Distillery, and may have been purpose-built for that use. In 1920 the terrace was acquired by Andrews flax spinning mill for use as employee housing. In 1980 it was vested in the Housing Executive. In 1984 Hearth Housing Association acquired the properties and carried out sympathetic renovation and restoration in 1986.