Ardmore, 26 The Brae, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 5TH

Ardmore is a large two storey gabled gentleman's residence set on a rise to the north of The Brae, overlooking the village of Ballygowan. The house was built in two sections. The long two storey rear return is the original dwelling, probably dating before 1834, with the main front section added between 1834 and 1858. The building is approached via a laneway with tall plain gate posts and tall decorative wrought iron gates.

The front façade faces west and is almost symmetrical. Roughly in the centre of the ground floor is a gabled porch with a sturdy timber panelled door reached via three steps. The doorway is encased with thick pilasters with simple moulded capitals and chamfered bases. Above the door is a frieze and cornice eaves course continuing around the porch. The west gabled face of the porch has a sash window with margin panes, with a moulded panel below and double pilasters at the edges. A small moulded roundel panel sits in the tympanum of the gable. The north face has a similar arrangement with single pilasters. To either side of the porch are single sash windows on the ground floor, with three similar but slightly smaller windows to the first floor.

The south façade comprises the south gable of the main front section and the south side of the long rear return. The gable has sash windows to the right on ground and first floors. The south façade of the return shows a house-like symmetry, suggesting this section was indeed an earlier dwelling. It has a panelled and glazed door with plain fanlight and moulded surround with keystone at the centre, with single sash windows to either side and three more similar but smaller windows to the first floor.

The north façade is more complex. The north gable of the main front section has sash windows to the right on ground and first floors. To its left is a small flat-roofed single storey extension with a modern window. Behind this extension is a two storey lean-to projection with a modern window to the first floor. To the left at the rear of the long return is a first floor sash window with margin panes. The centre left of the rear of the long return has a large full height gabled section projecting with a sash window to the first floor on its east face. A single storey lean-to store extension is attached to its north facing gable. The first floor of this gable has a centrally placed sash window with margin panes and a smaller modern window to the right.

The east gable of the return has a small single pane attic window. A single storey section, possibly originally a barn, adjoins the east gable.

The façade is finished in lined render with chamfered quoins to the front section and an eaves course to both the front section and long return. The roof, apart from the flat roofed portion, is covered in Bangor blue slates with parapets to the main front section and return. Four rendered chimney stacks sit above the return and front section (two each). A cast iron skylight sits to the rear of the return roof. The rainwater goods are mainly cast iron. Much of the front and south façades are covered in creeper growth. Outbuildings stand to the rear.

Historical background: A building matching the size and position of the present long return appears on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map marked 'Moss View'. The revised 1858 map shows the house much as it exists today, marked 'Orrmount'. Valuation records of circa 1835 show the original 'Moss View' was in the possession of James Reid with a rateable value of £12-1-0, indicating a substantial two storey property. By the second valuation around 1863, when the building had largely assumed its present form, the rateable value had risen to £32. At this stage the house was owned by Alexander Orr Reid, presumably a relative of James, and remained in the Reid family until at least 1886. Between this date and circa 1900, Orrmount was acquired by the Dickson family and renamed 'Ardmore'. The Dicksons added a gate lodge next to the south entrance and appear to have completely refurbished the house, no doubt adding the timber fireplaces and general Edwardian decoration. Taylor's and Skinner's 1777 road map of the Ballygowan area indicates a building in the general area of the present Ardmore. This property was built on land belonging to the Mussenden family.