6 Cunningburn Road, Newtownards, Co Down

6 Cunningburn Road is a corn drying kiln house, probably built in the 1770s at the same time as the corn mill, and recently converted to a dwelling. It forms part of the Cunningburn Mill group, situated in a hollow approximately 1 mile north-west of Mount Stewart estate. The house is positioned at a higher level to the north-west, beyond a tall brick chimney stack.

The building is part single storey and part two storey in plan. The front east-facing facade comprises a central single storey section with two storey sections at either end. The centre features a gabled porch projection added during the recent conversion, with a timber and glazed door and narrow eight-pane windows to both north and south faces. To the left of the porch is a six-pane window; to the right, a slightly larger casement window. The ground floor of the southern two storey section has a casement window to the front, with a similar window above on the first floor. The northern two storey section has a glazed door on the ground floor and a large casement window with a segmental arch head on the first floor. The north gable is blank.

A single storey section is attached to the south gable, with its roof forming a patio or balcony. The front east facade of this section has a glazed door with a large multi-pane window adjoining to the right. The south facade contains two multi-pane windows, the right one significantly broader. An upper level glazed door in the main south gable provides access to the patio or balcony. The stonework suggests the roof level of this section may once have been lower. The rear of the southern two storey section has casement windows to both ground and first floors. The rear of the single storey section has a large multi-pane window at the centre, a smaller casement window to the right, and a small multi-pane window to the far left. The northern two storey section has casement windows to both ground and first floor levels at the rear.

The building is constructed in random rubble stone, with the north and south sides of the porch in brick. All roofs, except the projection to the south gable, are gabled and pitched, covered with Bangor blue slates. The two storey section to the north has a small rubble chimney stack and rendered parapets; the southern section also has rendered parapets. Velux windows are present throughout: two to the front of the single storey section, one to the front of each two storey section, one to the rear of each single storey section, and three to the rear of the main single storey section.

To the north of the house is a rubble-built modern house that blends well with its surroundings. To the north-west is a modernised single storey building, now rendered and apparently used as a store. This building has two large modern garage doors on its south-east side with a small four-pane window to their left, and a timber and glazed door on the south-west gable. The north-west facade has a plain sheeted timber door with a fixed pane window to its right; the wall to the left is entirely open, providing a large open working area. The roof is gabled and pitched, covered with Bangor blue slates and fitted with two Velux windows to the south-east face.

The Cunningburn Mill group as a whole has been substantially transformed within the last decade through the efforts of Michael Murphy, who purchased much of the complex in the late 1980s when it was largely derelict. Though the buildings have been adapted for modern dwelling use, this has been achieved in an unpretentious and unobtrusive manner, with original facades largely retained. The corn mill at the centre of the group is undergoing conversion to a dwelling, maintaining the style of the other buildings in terms of windows, doors, roofing, and general facade finish.