3-5 Comber Road, Balloo, Killinchy, Co Down, BT23 6PA

A large two-storey house and shop standing on the east side of Comber Road near Balloo Cross-roads, less than half a mile west of Killinchy village. The building's late Victorian and Edwardian appearance, with projecting bays and a canopy-covered entrance, may conceal an earlier structure dating back to at least 1810.

The front west façade is finished in lined render, painted, with a plinth and eaves course. The principal feature is a flat-roofed canopy with decorative ball finials, spanning the central section. Beneath this canopy sits the shop entrance with timber-panelled double doors, flanked to the left by a large six-pane fixed light window. To the left of these is a small entrance porch for the house, which has a timber door with fanlight to the front and two tall two-light windows facing south. Between the porch and shop window is a built-in wall post box with an enamel post office notice dating from around 1900-1920. Above the canopy on the first floor are three sash windows with horizontal glazing bars.

The left-hand bay is five-sided with a hipped roof, featuring sash windows to the three front-facing bays on each floor. The right-hand bay is three-sided (square in plan) with a hipped roof, containing twinned sash windows to the first floor and a large six-pane fixed light window to the ground floor. Attached to the north gable is a high rendered wall with a modern-looking arch and tympanum dating from around the 1920s. Behind this wall is a single-storey lean-to with a timber-sheeted door to the right on the north face and a sash window to the short east face.

The rear façade shows evidence of multiple phases of construction. To the left is a two-storey gabled return with a long two-storey store section attached to its east gable. A flat-roofed single-storey section has been added across the ground floor of both elements. To the right of this return is a full-height gabled extension built at right angles, with gables parallel to the main house. This section has a large metal window to its ground floor east façade and a sash window to the first floor, with the rear door and a small boarded-up first-floor window in its north gable. To the right of this extension, on the rear façade of the main house, are sash windows to both ground and first floors.

The rear is finished in rough cast, unpainted. All main roofs are gabled with Bangor blue slates. Three yellow brick chimney stacks rise from the roof, with yellow clay parapets to the north. The square bay features quoins. Large two-storey outbuildings stand to the rear.

Historical documentary evidence indicates a building has occupied this site since at least 1810, when it was leased to Dr. David Moorhead (died 1835), who may have operated a surgery or dispensary from the premises. An Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a long structure encompassing both the present numbers 3-5 and 1 Comber Road. The 1837 first valuation identifies the northern section of this structure (the present 3-5) as belonging to James Watson, comprising a slate-roofed "house shop" measuring 31½ feet by 23½ feet by 15 feet high, with an office (outbuilding) and loft of 26 by 22½ by 14 feet, plus an "old office" of undocumented dimensions. These measurements indicate that just over half the main front block was originally domestic in purpose, with the remainder serving as outbuilding, and that the outbuilding was slightly lower in height than the residence. Shortly after, the property came into the hands of Hamilton Watson.

By 1861 the property was leased by Samuel W. Hewitt from Samuel Murland of Annsborough, who had purchased the freehold in 1851. Before 1868 the lease passed to Anna (or Anne) Russell and her husband David, who were returning tenants (they had occupied the property at the time of the 1851 sale). David died relatively shortly after their return, and Anna, who operated a spirit merchant's business from the premises, held the lease until 1873, when it was acquired by William McCann. William, a local grocer, converted the shop to a grocery store and subsequently added a post office function.

William McCann made significant alterations within a few years of taking occupancy, with the rateable value increasing from £6-10-0 to £12-0-0 in 1877, suggesting that the former outbuilding section may have been incorporated into the main house at this time. A "new store" is recorded in the valuations for 1880, likely indicating completion of the barn on the north side of the site that year. In 1892 further improvements were documented by builder's invoice, including "building an extension to [the] dwelling house…[and] plastering front and gables in cement", possibly referring to the addition of the canted bay to the front, though this is not certain.

Further works took place around 1903, thought to include the construction of the rear two-storey kitchen and bathroom projection, along with the screen wall and archway to the north. William McCann purchased the freehold in 1905, and upon his death the following year the property passed to his son, Hamilton McCann. In 1911 Hamilton added the square bay and veranda to the front, along with internal modifications, all designed by Belfast architect Charles Aicken. A lean-to extension was added to the north gable around this time. Subsequent additions have been made to the rear return, and most recently a large flat-roofed section has been built within the rear courtyard. Both shop and house remain in the ownership of Hamilton McCann's descendants.