18-20 Shore Road, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1JZ

18-20 Shore Road, Portaferry is a two-storey terraced building of mid-19th century construction, now substantially altered. It comprises numbers 18 and 20, and is the northernmost building in a terrace of five dwellings of various sizes situated near the north end of Shore Road, just south of the junction with Steel Dickson Avenue. The terrace front elevation faces roughly west.

The building's west-facing facade is asymmetrical. At ground floor level, a panelled timber house doorway sits right of centre, with a circa 1950s panelled and glazed door (formerly leading to a now-disused shop) immediately to its left. A large fixed light window with square proportions is positioned to the left of this door, and a similar window with PVC frame occupies the far right. The first floor contains two widely spaced windows matching the ground floor right window type, with a smaller central window. The front facade is rendered in pebbledash. The north gable is blank and finished to match the front.

The rear elevation shows a recessed doorway near the centre of the ground floor and a modern window to the first floor left. A two-storey gabled return, built in brick with various window openings (some modern), projects from the far left. This return has a bevelled corner to the east. To the north it is abutted by a single-storey lean-to with a timber-sheeted door facing east. The lean-to and rear of the main building are finished in roughcast. The gabled roof is covered in fibre cement slates and carries two yellow brick chimney stacks. The building has a mixture of cast iron and PVC rainwater goods.

Historically, the site appears substantially on Patrick O'Hare's 1799 map of Portaferry, showing buildings with property divisions that match the present-day arrangement. Circa 1835 valuation returns record five houses on the terrace site: a large two-storey dwelling at each end (occupied by William McDowell and John McDowell respectively) and three more modest dwellings between them, which were exempt from rating. An 1861 valuation shows seven properties, with the present number 18 comprising two dwellings and number 24 possibly representing a single house divided between two occupants. The Ordnance Survey town plan of 1900 shows an arrangement similar to 1861, except number 24 was then a single property. The building took its present form prior to the 1970s, when number 18 incorporated the smaller dwelling to the south.

The property is situated within a conservation area but does not meet listing criteria and is not listed.