40-42 High Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5HL

40-42 High Street, Comber

A small single-storey urban vernacular house of pre-1834 origin, situated near the south-west end of a terrace on the south-east side of High Street. The building occupies a sloping site that rises north-east to south-west. Originally two separate properties, these were amalgamated internally in 1986 during a sympathetic renovation and restoration of the entire terrace.

The north-west facing front façade features, from right to left: a timber-sheeted and glazed door with a plain fanlight; a sash window with horizontal glazing bars in a 2-over-2 pattern; a second doorway (formerly to No. 40) with a dummy door matching the first; and a further sash window of the same design. To the left at the rear stands a small single-storey gabled return, shared with the neighbouring house to the south-west.

The north-east face of this return contains a doorway similar to the front but with a large single pane of glazing to the right, and a relatively small double sash window to the left. The gable itself is blank. The main rear façade to the right of the return displays two sash windows, the right-hand example being considerably smaller. The entire façade is finished in roughcast and painted.

The gabled roof is covered in natural slate, as is the return roof. Rendered chimney stacks rise to the centre and north-east of the roof ridge. A Velux window has been inserted to the rear of the roof. Aluminium rainwater goods have replaced the original. The rear yard is now flagged with a raised area adjacent to the house façade.

Historical records show the site occupied in 1722. Both properties were probably two of the 'seven houses exempt' (below rateable value) noted at this end of High Street in the 1834 valuation, and likely dated from the 1790s or slightly later, having been of reasonable age by that time. The entire terrace on this side is believed to have once housed workers from the nearby brewery, later known as the Upper Distillery, and may have been purpose-built for this use. In 1920 the terrace was acquired by Andrews flax spinning mill for employee housing, and in 1980 was vested in the Housing Executive. Hearth Housing Association acquired the properties in 1984 and undertook renovation and restoration in 1986, at which point this particular house was created from the two smaller dwellings.