2 Martello Terrace, Victoria Road, Holywood, Co. Down, BT18 9BE

2 Martello Terrace, Victoria Road, Holywood

This is a substantial two and a half storey, double fronted house, one of a terrace of four built circa 1859-60. The terrace originally bore the name 'Martello Crescent', the name alluding to an old windmill nearby which may have functioned as a Napoleonic look-out post or Martello tower. The building is situated off Victoria Road, to the north-east of Holywood town centre. The property has been divided into two complete apartments in recent times, with a section belonging to a neighbouring apartment mainly contained within the adjoining former house (No. 1).

The symmetrical front, or south-west façade features a central doorway with a projecting porch supported by square section columns and matching antae. This is surmounted by a frieze, a cornice with dentils, and a pediment-like blocking course. The panelled door has glazed margins and a rectangular fanlight, also with margins. Above at first floor sits a shallow projecting bay (100 millimetres), upon which is set a further projecting rendered bay flanked by fine pilasters rising to moulded console brackets that support a projecting cornice. Within the bay is a semi-circular arched sash window with horizontal astragals, framed with pilasters and a moulded archivolt and keystone. To left and right of the doorway are chamfered, projecting, rendered flat-roofed bay windows, each with a sliding sash window featuring horizontal astragals. Those to the sides are similar but narrower, resting on a cill course and topped with a projecting cornice with dentils and blocking course. Either side of the central window are two equally spaced sash windows of similar design. Two small gabled dormer windows sit directly in line with the chamfered bays, framed with plain pilasters and containing 'pointed' fixed two-light windows with glazed reveals. Between the dormers are three Velux roof lights. The walls are generally finished in brick.

The rear comprises a large three-storey return, part rendered and part brick. To the right of the return is a flat-roofed extension which appears to belong to No. 1. Above this is a first-floor 6 over 6 Georgian-style sliding sash window, with a similar first-floor window to the right of the return. Below this is a large multi-pane, tripartite window with a wide horizontal astragal concealing the edge of an internal mezzanine floor.

The north-east face of the return is rendered and features a central sash window to second and first floors—that to the second floor being shorter. The ground floor has a modern, enlarged, off-centre window. The north-west face of the return has two windows as before to the right side of first and second floors, with the left side of the return blank. The ground floor here is obscured by the flat-roofed extension. To the extreme left of this face is a vertical rendered band approximately 450 millimetres wide. The south-east face of the return contains three unevenly spaced windows (as before) to first and second floors, and two windows to the ground floor, with that to the right being slightly shorter and having no astragals. The ground floor and a vertical band approximately three metres wide are rendered.

The main and return roofs are finished with Bangor Blue slate and equipped with cast-iron rainwater goods. Brick chimney stacks with wide projecting stone cornices and some matching pots delineate the division between each house. The small front garden is enclosed by timber ranch-type fencing and a gate.