57-79 Mill Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5EG

Long terrace of nine single-storey dwellings on the north side of Mill Street, west of Comber town centre, of probable 18th century origin and possibly earlier. The site is shown as occupied on a 1722 map of Comber and on all subsequent available maps. The 1834 valuation records note that this section of Mill Street contained nineteen houses classed as exempt — that is, below rateable value — and these dwellings were likely among them, possibly representing some of the oldest surviving buildings in Comber. One owner reported being told by the late local historian Norman Nevin that the entire terrace dated from the early to mid 17th century, though this has not been confirmed. Over the last twenty-five years or so, many of the properties have been amalgamated into larger units and almost all have been substantially extended, leaving very little of the original appearance intact across the terrace as a whole. Only No. 65 retains something of its original scale and character, and only No. 67–69 still has its original stone door surround.

No. 57–59 was formerly two separate dwellings, amalgamated in recent years. The front (south) façade has a PVC door roughly to the centre, a large PVC-framed window to the left, and a similar window to the right. The east gable is blank. To the right is a large modern single-storey flat-roofed extension. The rear has a large PVC-framed window on the main façade. The finish is unpainted roughcast with smooth render surrounds to openings. The gabled roof is covered in asbestos slates and has a large modern flat-roofed dormer to the rear. Two rendered chimney stacks. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 61–63 was also formerly two dwellings and in its essentials repeats the form of No. 57–59, with large PVC windows throughout and a modern flat-roofed extension and dormer to the rear. The roughcast façade here is painted rather than left bare, and the rear slope is covered in asbestos-free slates rather than asbestos.

No. 65 is an extremely small house. The front (south) façade has a plain sheeted door to the right and a PVC-framed window to the left. To the rear there is a modern sheeted and glazed door to the left and a window to the right whose frame is covered over. A low single-storey shed with a mono-pitched corrugated asbestos roof is attached to the right side. The façade is finished in plain painted render. The gabled roof is covered in asbestos-free slates with a Velux window to the rear. Single rendered chimney stack. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 67–69 is a larger property. Its address implies it was once two separate dwellings, but old photographs and its present façade suggest that if two properties did originally exist here, they had been amalgamated by at least the early 20th century. The front (south) façade has a timber sheeted and glazed stable door to the centre right, set within plain pilasters and an entablature with cornice — this is the original stone door surround referred to above, the only one surviving in the terrace. To the left are two PVC-framed windows, with a further similar window to the right of the door. To the rear there is a large modern single-storey gabled extension, with a PVC-framed window on the remaining section of the original rear façade to its left. The front façade is finished in painted lined render, the rear in unpainted plain render. The gabled roof is covered in asbestos slates. Two rendered chimney stacks. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 71 is similar in size to No. 67–69 and has a similar front façade arrangement, but handed, and with a different style of modern door without a surround. The front doorway has been raised in height in recent years. The rear façade has a modern door to the centre left, a smallish window with a modern frame to its left, and two broadly similar windows to its right. The rear façade is finished in roughcast. The gabled roof is covered in natural slate. Two rendered chimney stacks. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 73 is a very small property, comparable in scale to No. 65. The front (south) façade has a modern door to the left and a sash window to the right. The rear is now completely covered by a very large modern single-storey flat-roofed return, with a large modern dormer over the rear of the roof that actually rises above the original roof line. The front façade is finished in plain painted render. The front of the roof is covered in asbestos slates. Single concrete brick chimney stack. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 75 is a larger property set on the squint, with one half of the front façade at a slightly different angle from the other, almost as though it were originally two separate dwellings. The front (south) façade has a modern door to the left and two widely spaced modern windows to the right. To the rear there is a large modern flat-roofed extension with a large modern conservatory. The façade is finished in plain painted render. The gabled roof has asbestos-free slates to the front and natural slates to the rear, with a thin rendered parapet to the centre of the roof at the front. Single brick chimney stack to the centre. PVC rainwater goods.

No. 77 appears similar in size to No. 75. The front (south) façade has a PVC door to the centre left, an enlarged PVC-framed window to the left of the door, and two smaller PVC-framed windows to the right. There was no access to the rear during inspection, but a large modern extension with a mono-pitched roof is visible to the rear. The rear roof pitch has been altered and is now quite shallow, presumably to enlarge the upper floor. The front façade is finished in recent pebbledash with smooth render surrounds to openings. The roof has natural slate to the front and concrete tiles to the rear, with two Velux windows to the front. Two rendered chimney stacks, that to the west being quite tall owing to the raising in height of the adjoining No. 79.

No. 79 was originally a small dwelling roughly comparable to No. 65, but has been drastically altered in recent years: the roof has been raised in height and a very large lean-to extension added to the rear, more than doubling the property in size so that it now appears entirely modern. The front (south) façade has a PVC door to the right and a smallish PVC-framed window to the left. The west gable has an enlarged window to the left at ground floor level and a small window to the left at the upper level, both with PVC frames. The gable now has an uneven profile owing to the roof being raised. To the left and centre at the rear is a large lean-to extension whose roof pitch matches that of the main roof as it now stands, giving the property an even two-storey gable to the east side. The front façade is finished in recent pebbledash, with the rear and east gable in roughcast. The east gable has concrete tile and natural slate cladding. The roof has natural slate to the front and concrete tiles to the rear, with a roof overhang and a Velux window to the front. Two tall rendered chimney stacks.