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

A two-bay three-storey Victorian mid-terrace townhouse built around 1855, located to the south of High Street in Holywood town centre. Originally known as Walmer Terrace, this house forms part of an important group of six terraced houses and illustrates the growth of Holywood in the mid-nineteenth century following the opening of the railway in 1848.

The building is rectangular on plan with a three-storey return to the rear. It has a pitched natural slate roof with brick chimneys fitted with terracotta pots. The walling is Flemish bonded red brick with painted smooth render incorporating band rustication to the ground floor; the rear elevation has smooth painted render. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods sit on overhanging corbelled eaves with paired brackets.

The principal elevation faces west and is two openings wide. The right side features a canted bay to the ground floor with 2/2 timber framed sliding sash windows with horizontal glazing bars, a moulded window surround divided by Doric pilasters, plain entablature with dentilled frieze, corbelled eaves and parapet. The first floor has segmental-headed 6/2 windows with continuous sill, and the second floor has 6/6 windows. The rear elevation follows the same pattern of 6/2 windows at first floor and 6/6 at second floor.

The entrance is accessed by two stone steps. The door has four raised-and-fielded panels with brass door furniture and a transom light, surrounded by a panelled pilaster with ornate console brackets surmounted by a moulded entablature with dentilled eaves and a projecting corbelled pediment.

The east (rear) elevation has windows to the left at first and second floor levels, with a uPVC double-leaf door at ground floor. A lower three-storey return is abutted to the right, with a window and modern timber door to the second floor, a single window to the second floor, and a small lean-to at ground floor. An exposed section to the left has two window openings to each floor.

The building has been extensively refurbished in recent years, resulting in the loss of historic fabric. The site is situated within Holywood town centre with St Comcille's Church and Tower directly to the south. A small paved garden to the front is enclosed by simple cast-iron railings and gate. A tarmacadam car park to the east is semi-enclosed with a painted masonry wall.

According to Griffith's Valuation records from 1856 to 1864, the houses were leased from Andrew Cowan and housed a variety of merchants and professional people, including at least three members of the clergy. Early valuations record the house as a property with yard and small garden valued at £27, later raised to £29, with five bedrooms, two reception rooms, hot and cold water and a bathroom. Various tenants occupied the house throughout the nineteenth century, including Nathaniel Thompson, Henry Agnew, Ellen Campbell and Andrew Cowan. Valuer's notes from the early twentieth century indicate the house had been vacant for years, with subsequent occupants including Minnie Mateer, Anna Hawthorne and Charles F Gracey. Holywood entered decline in the late nineteenth century following the arrival of trams in Belfast during the 1870s, which provided alternative residential options for the mercantile and professional classes. Valuations were progressively reduced during this period, from £27 in 1891 to £22 10s in 1904, and £17 10s by 1912. The building is currently in use as offices.