148 High Street, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9HS

148 High Street is a two-bay three-storey Victorian mid-terrace townhouse built around 1855, located to the south of High Street in Holywood town centre. The building forms part of Walmer Terrace, a group of six houses that represents an important example of Holywood's mid-19th-century growth following the opening of the railway in 1848.

The house is rectangular on plan with a three-storey return to the rear and a uPVC conservatory. The roof is pitched with natural slate and has brick chimneys topped with terracotta pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods sit on overhanging corbelled eaves with paired brackets.

The walling is Flemish bonded red-brick with smooth painted render to the rear elevation. The principal elevation faces west and is two openings wide. The ground floor features a canted bay with 2/2 timber-framed sliding sash windows (having horizontal glazing bars) and a moulded window surround divided by Doric pilasters, with a plain entablature, dentilled frieze, and corbelled eaves. The first floor has segmental-headed 6/2 windows with a continuous sill, while the second floor has 6/6 windows. The rear elevation also features 6/6 windows.

The entrance is accessed by two stone steps. The door has four raised-and-fielded panels with a transom light and is surrounded by a panelled pilaster with ornate console brackets surmounted by a corniced canopy. All windows are timber-framed sliding sash with flat brick arches. The north elevation is abutted by the adjoining building, and the south elevation is similarly abutted. The east (rear) elevation has a window to the left at all floors and is abutted to the right by a lower three-storey return with gable windows at first and second floor levels. A uPVC conservatory occupies the ground floor of this return.

The front of the building is enclosed by a small paved garden with simple cast-iron railings and gate. To the rear is a larger paved and gravelled garden enclosed to the north and east by a high brick wall, accessed by a large double-leaf timber gate. The building is situated to the south of High Street with St Comcille's Church and Tower directly to the south. A tarmacadamed car-park lies to the east, semi-enclosed with a painted masonry wall.

According to historical records, the houses were first shown on the second edition ordnance survey map captioned 'Walmer Terrace' and were built in 1856. They attracted merchants and professional people drawn to Holywood by the railway's opening in 1848. At least three members of the clergy lived in the terrace: a Catholic priest, a Presbyterian missionary, and a Church of Ireland curate. The terrace was leased from Andrew Cowan, who also owned the semi-detached pair of houses called 'Mill Bank', built at approximately the same time.

Griffith's Valuation of 1856 to 1864 records this house as occupied by William W Millar, with the property comprising a house, yard, and small garden valued at £27, later raised to £29. The rent was £34 plus taxes. According to valuer's records from around 1900 to 1906, the house contained 5 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms, hot and cold water, and a bathroom. Subsequent tenants included Ann Martin (1880), John Hodge (1900), James Jenkins (1904), Elizabeth Farrington (1913), and Albert E Calvert (1917). The property's valuation declined over time, from £27 in the early period to £17 by 1912, reflecting Holywood's economic decline in the late 19th century following the arrival of trams in Belfast during the 1870s, which offered the mercantile and professional classes more residential options. William Keenan became the immediate lessor in 1926. Valuer's notes from this period indicate the house had been vacant for some years.