26 Andrew’s Shorefield, Balloo Lower, Groomsport, Bangor, Co Down, BT19 6LJ

26 Andrew's Shorefield is a single-storey timber chalet built around 1920, located off Donaghadee Road east of Groomsport, with Belfast Lough to the north. It was erected as part of a small development of similar chalets and is now a rare surviving example of this type, as most of the wider setting has been gradually redeveloped with permanent dwellings.

The building has a square plan and weather-boarded timber frame structure, raised above ground level on individual masonry plinths. It is roofed in felt with a hipped roof surmounted by dual-aspect dormers. A smooth rendered brick chimney stack with a single clay pot terminates against the external wall. Cast-iron semi-circular gutters run round the building, though the downpipes have been removed. Windows are single-glazed timber casements with transoms and mullions. The timber front door has an architrave surround, with six glazed panels to the upper portion and three tall solid rectangular panels below the lock rail, fitted with brass ironmongery.

The principal elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged. The front door is located slightly left of centre, with a canted bay to the right and a bi-partite window to the left. A veranda extends the full width of this elevation, comprising timber joisted decking and a geometrically arranged balustrade with plain square posts supporting an overhanging roof. Timber elliptical arch braces between posts feature a decorative key block centrally located. A bi-partite flat-roofed dormer window projects from the apex of the roof above.

The left (east) elevation has a single casement window positioned slightly left of centre. The rear (south) elevation is also asymmetrically arranged with a rear door located left of centre, flanked by casement windows, and a bi-partite dormer window projecting from the roof apex. Abutting the rear is a narrow timber and glass structure forming a flat-roofed link block between the rear door and a small L-shaped shed with corrugated iron roof and timber panels. The right (west) elevation has no openings. The chimney stack rises from ground level, left of centre, and partially breaks through the eaves.

The site comprises a small garden to the front and a larger garden to the rear which includes a separate timber shed. The site is bounded by various species of vegetation to the south and hedgerows to the east and west, obscuring direct views from the road. Access to the front is via a small iron gate with filigree detailing fixed to concrete posts; the rear can be accessed through a timber gate. Adjacent to the east boundary hedge, outside the site, is a small water pump, with two other similar pumps found nearby. The chalet forms part of a series of single-storey holiday homes arranged along a small circular road. The surrounding accommodation is a mixture of timber chalets of similar style and modern replacements. There are no uninterrupted views of the coast.

From the late 1920s, the stretch of coast east of Groomsport developed as a resort area with large numbers of static caravans and huts noted in valuation records from the 1920s and 1930s onwards. Caravan parks and chalets, including the current building, first appear on the fifth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1939. Andrews' Shore Field, where this structure is situated, was filled with wooden chalets until the 1980s when they began to be replaced by modern mobile homes. Large caravan parks occupied either side of the field; the one to the west has now been redeveloped.

The current building first enters valuation records in 1929, valued at £2. The occupier was William Gray, leasing the property from Hugh Andrews, the owner of the field, though it is unclear whether Andrews constructed the chalets himself or whether they were erected by individuals who purchased leases on plots of land. In the First General Revaluation of 1933, the valuation increased to £8, and the chalet was described as a weather board hut with a dormer in the roof space. The plan of that date shows a greenhouse of wood and glass and a store and scullery of wood and corrugated iron to the rear of the building.