St. Catherines, 2 Circular Road East, Cultra, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 0HA

St Catherine's is a detached two-storey three-bay gabled house in the Arts and Crafts style, built around 1900 and set in mature grounds north of Circular Road East in Cultra, County Down.

The house has a rectangular plan with corner windows and projecting gables, with a single-storey extension to the northeast comprising a conservatory and garages. The pitched roof is laid in rosemary tiles with tall red-brick chimneystacks topped with terracotta pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods run along the overhanging eaves above the exposed ends, while timber bargeboards decorate the half-timbered gables.

The walls are constructed of Flemish-bonded red brick to the ground floor, with painted roughcast render applied to the first floor; a string course marks the division between storeys. Windows are timber-framed replacements, mostly comprising 6/1 sliding sash with horns and projecting sandstone sills.

The principal southeast elevation features left and right gables, the right bay narrower and projecting further than the left. The central bay contains a stepped leaded-and-stained glass sandstone mullioned stairwell window to the left, with a gablet incorporating three windows to the right. The ground floor of the central section has two windows with a diminutive window to the far left. The right gable holds a cambered bipartite mullioned window to the first floor and two windows below. The left gable has a bipartite mullioned window to the first floor left, another window to the first floor right, a corner window at ground floor left, and an entrance to the right. The entrance door is nine-panelled timber with a brass knob, sheltered by a corbelled canopy with scrolled brackets on sandstone corbels.

The southwest elevation contains projecting corner bay windows at ground floor left and right, with a window at first floor left beneath a half-timbered gable. The northwest rear elevation has a projecting gable at centre with a bipartite mullioned window to the first floor and a canted bay window to the ground floor. The right bay features a modern double-leaf glazed door accessed by two slate steps, a window to the right of centre at first floor, and a corner window to the ground floor. The left bay has three windows across the ground and first floors. The northeast elevation shows a window at first floor left, with a flat-roof modern extension abutting the ground floor, itself further abutted by a conservatory to the northwest and garages to the northeast.

The house stands in large mature grounds approached via a tree-lined driveway. The setting comprises extensive lawned areas with shrubs on all sides, enclosed by mature trees and hedgerow. Modern electric gates and a timber fence mark the entrance at Cultra Road East.

The house first appears on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1919–31, captioned 'St Catherine's'. It is known to have been in existence by 1907, when it is listed in street directories as the residence of Miss Grace Emily Kennedy. Miss Kennedy was the unmarried sister of Robert John Kennedy of Cultra Manor, and the present house appears to have been constructed around the same time as the manor house. According to the 1911 census, Miss Kennedy resided at the house with a parlour maid and housemaid, living on the interest of money. The house is recorded as first class, comprising fourteen rooms.