Cattogs, 20 Ballygraffan Road, Cattogs, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5SU

Cattogs is a substantial two-storey gabled farmhouse of probable pre-1834 origin, possibly dating to the 18th century. It is situated on a rise to the north of Ballygraffan Road, approximately two miles southwest of Comber and a short distance from the west coast of Strangford Lough.

The front (west) facade is symmetrical. At ground floor level is a timber panelled door with a plain fanlight, flanked by two relatively small windows with PVC sash frames. The first floor has five slightly smaller windows with similar frames. To the south of the main west facade, flush with it, is a single storey gabled section with a fairly large window featuring Georgian-like panes. The south gable of this section is blank, as is the exposed section of the south gable of the main house. The exposed north gable has a PVC window to the left on the first floor, and at ground floor level there is a large gabled conservatory. To the east, this conservatory backs onto a single storey gabled outbuilding.

To the rear, a full height gabled return merges to the north with a larger two storey flat roofed extension of later date. The return has two PVC windows of varying size on the first floor and a glazed PVC door to the right on the ground floor. The main rear facade has four further PVC windows of varying size on the first floor. To the left of the return, on the main house, are PVC windows to each floor, with another to the rear on the single storey section to the south. All rear window openings appear modern, with some having been slightly enlarged in recent times, and slim concrete cills are evident throughout. The entire facade is covered in rough cast and painted. The roof is covered in natural slate with two chimney stacks in fairly recent looking reddish-brown brick. A large collection of gabled outbuildings stands to the rear, with that to the east side being two storey.

Despite the modern flat roofed extension, PVC window frames, and door, the building preserves something of its original character, particularly evident in the front facade where small scale window openings hint at considerable age. The broad boxes on the PVC frames ironically help maintain this feeling of antiquity, as the original frames likely had similarly sized boxes.

The Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a house on this site. Contemporary valuation records indicate it was in the hands of a Robert Shaw and measured 41 feet by 23 feet by 15 feet—exactly the same as the present building minus the single storey section to the south and the rear extensions. The valuers graded the house 'B-', suggesting it was perhaps 50 years old at that time, indicating probable 18th century origin.

The Shaw family remained in possession of the house until the 1970s when it was acquired by the present owner. By that stage, the flat roofed extension had already been added to the rear, joining to the gabled return which appears to have been added in the mid-20th century. The conservatory was added by the present owner circa 1980s.

Prior to the mid-19th century, the main coast road passed this house a short distance to the west, a passage still marked by the hedge boundary of the front lawn. Between 1834 and 1858, probably due to land reclamation along the coast of the lough, the road was radically redirected several hundred yards to the east of the property, where it remains to this day.