5-7 Ferry Street, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1PB

A relatively large two-storey terrace house with shop and carriage arch, probably dating to around 1850. The property stands on the west side of Ferry Street, south of Portaferry town square, with its front façade facing east.

The façade is asymmetrical. To the right is a panelled timber door serving the house, with a rectangular fanlight featuring an unusual 'brick bond' arrangement of panes. To the left is a large coachway with an elliptical arch and timber-sheeted double doors. Adjacent to this is a large timber shop front with three-pane windows on either side of a glazed and double sliding sash-and-case window. The first floor contains four unevenly spaced sash windows set on stone cills. A satellite dish is mounted to the right, and a projecting street lamp projects from the centre of the façade. The exposed gables to both north and south each contain a tiny attic window.

The rear of the building features a large two-storey flat-roofed extension of relatively recent construction. The west face of this extension has a modern door and window to the first floor and two windows to the second floor. The main rear façade has a window to the far left on the first floor and another to the far right. To the left on the ground floor extends a long single-storey outbuilding with a mono-pitched roof.

The front façade is finished in lined render and painted; the gables and rear are in plain render, with the rear unpainted. The gabled roof is covered with Bangor blue slates and has three rendered chimney stacks with various pots. There is an eaves course, PVC guttering and downspout, and three Velux windows to the rear.

Valuation records from around 1835 show that the west side of Ferry Street was predominantly made up of modest single-storey dwellings. The accompanying map indicates that this site and ground immediately to the south comprised a single long property belonging to Henry Smith, consisting of a single-storey house and outbuilding, with a small exempt dwelling to the north. By around 1861, the valuation map shows the property plan much as it is today, including the carriage arch, suggesting the present house dates to the mid-19th century. At that time the property belonged to Peter Brown but was unoccupied. According to the present owners, much of the ground floor was converted to a shop in the early 1900s.

The building has undergone many alterations and is not of listable quality. It is located within a conservation area.