55 Hogstown Road, Ballyfotherly, Donaghadee, Co. Down

55 Hogstown Road is a long two-storey gabled farmhouse situated on a slight rise to the east of Hogstown Road, approximately 1.5 miles west of Donaghadee in County Down. The building was originally constructed as a single-storey vernacular dwelling before 1834 and was completely heightened, probably in the 1880s or later, with a return added to the rear and the façade rendered in typical late Victorian or Edwardian fashion.

The front (north) façade is asymmetrical. To the right of centre is an Ards-type doorway with Gibbsian pilasters, a modern glazed door, and a spoked fanlight. This doorway is surrounded by a gabled porch, added perhaps around 1960 and originally largely glazed but now lacking its glass and in poor condition. Immediately to the left of the porch are two sash windows, with a much larger square sash window (2/2) set to the far left at a slightly lower level. To the right of the porch are two sash windows, slightly larger than those to the left of the porch and also set at a slightly lower level. All ground floor windows are set on a sill course and have a moulded surround with keystone. These mouldings have a late Victorian appearance, though such decoration was applied on rural properties up to around 1910 and may not be as old as they appear. The first floor contains seven unevenly spaced windows, also set on a sill course and with similar mouldings to the ground floor. The east gable has a single window to the right of centre on the first floor. The west gable is blank but merges to the right with the east face of a single-storey lean-to, which has a sash window (2/2).

The rear features a left-of-centre full-height gabled return. Attached to the west side of this return and the main house is the single-storey lean-to section. To the east of the return is a large, relatively modern-looking single-storey flat-roofed extension. All projections to the rear appear to be of brick construction, with render that has partially fallen away. The full-height return and lean-to have various sash windows, whilst the flat-roofed section has large modern windows. There is a sash window to the east of the return on the first floor of the main house, and to the far right evidence of a ground floor window now blocked.

The entire façade of the main house is finished in roughcast with bevelled in-out quoins and a plinth. Some render has come away at the rear. The main roof is gabled, slated, with rendered parapets. The lean-to roof is also slated, but the gabled roof of the return is covered with asbestos slates. There is a mixture of metal and PVC rainwater goods. Four symmetrically positioned rendered chimney stacks stand on the main roof, each with cornicing and simple clay pots. The stack west of centre appears to be a dummy.

According to Ordnance Survey maps from 1834 and 1858–60, a building on this site matches the footprint of the present structure. The 1835 valuation returns state that the property was relatively old at that time (probably late 18th century) and that over two-thirds of the building was only 6.5 feet tall, with a small section of 17 feet in length slightly taller at 10.5 feet. The two-storey house seen today is therefore the result of a post-1835 heightening carried out in typical vernacular fashion. The timing of this work and whether the entire property was raised simultaneously or in stages is unclear. The mouldings to the façade and much internal detailing suggest the work may have taken place from the 1880s onwards, possibly into the early 1900s, though the lower floor level at the east end could indicate different stages of alteration. The return and lean-to may also have been built in stages, as whilst some rear extension is indicated on the 1858–60 Ordnance Survey map, the present brick construction could point to a later 19th or early 20th-century enlargement or rebuild. The property is now largely unoccupied, with only a much-modernised section of the return in use.