Motte House, 21 Victoria Road, Holywood, Co Down BT18 9BA

Motte House is an attractive two-storey three-bay late eighteenth-century end-terrace urban vernacular dwelling, attached to the end of a row of mill-worker's cottages on the west side of Victoria Road near Holywood town centre. The house is likely to have been formed out of three individual dwellings and is one of the earliest surviving examples of housing in Holywood.

The building is rectangular on plan with the main entrance to a rear return. It features a single-storey canted bay to the north and east, and a single-storey modern sunroom to the west. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and is topped by four tall roughcast rendered chimneystacks, each carrying three tall clay pots on a masonry plinth; there is also a chimney to the rear gable. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods complete the external finishes. The walling is roughcast painted render with a low smooth rendered plinth.

The principal elevation faces east and displays asymmetrical fenestration reflecting the three former dwellings. Windows throughout are 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash with slim glazing bars; some are tripartite and some have margin panes. The east elevation has six windows to the first floor and four window openings to the ground floor. The left ground-floor window is a replacement timber mullioned window, whilst the right ground-floor window sits within a canted bay with uPVC sashes. The south elevation is abutted by an adjoining building. The west elevation is abutted by a full-height return; the exposed section to the right has two first-floor windows, a modern entrance door, and a modern gabled sunroom extension at ground level; the exposed section to the left has an enlarged multi-pane patio window at ground floor and a single window to first floor. The gable of the return features a recessed segmental-headed multi-paned window at ground floor.

The north elevation comprises the main entrance, which has a segmental-headed doorcase with a raised-and-fielded double-panelled timber door accessed by a single bull-nosed step, flanked by sidelights with stained glass sections and surmounted by a fanlight. To the right of the entrance is a single window, with two windows to the first floor. The south elevation of the return has a single window at first floor. The north elevation also features a canted bay at ground floor with two segmental-headed windows to the first floor.

Despite modifications and recent refurbishment, most openings are original and the building retains many internal features including a curved staircase, window linings, and shutters.

The house is set slightly lower than street level behind a low stepped wall surmounted by cast-iron railings. A modern cast-iron gate to the north leads to a gravelled entrance. A mature garden to the west extends to the edge of Holywood Motte and is enclosed by mature trees and hedgerow. A rubble stone and brick wall bounds the south side. At the time of listing, the first-floor window to the right of the entrance return was boarded up, possibly due to recent storm damage.

The house appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, with two mills shown to the east and south of the present house. A mound is depicted to the rear. By the second edition of 1858, the house is captioned 'Mill Moat' and is shown with the addition of a return to the rear. The former mound is captioned 'Moat', probably an archaic spelling of 'Motte'.

Robert and Daniel Reade are listed as the owners and occupiers in Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), with the house and outbuildings valued at £35 and the associated land to the rear at £3. The house remained in the Read family for some years, being occupied by Patrick Read in 1883 and Isabella Read in 1890. The valuation was reduced to £31 in 1883. Following a period of vacancy at the turn of the century, the house was let by the Reade family to a succession of tenants. James McKeown occupied it in 1908 and was followed by Robert Grainger in 1909. According to the 1911 census, Robert James Grainger, a contractor from Grangefield House, Craigavad, lived in the house with his wife and their young son; their domestic servant was from County Monaghan. The tenancy passed to the Rule family in 1915, who were resident until at least 1930.

Later occupants, Robert (1809–1871) and Daniel (1815–1881) Read, were the founders in 1855 of the 'Belfast Morning News', the first penny newspaper in Ireland and forerunner of the 'Irish News'. They also owned property in Holywood including Riverston Terrace and gave generously to St Colmcille's church.

According to local architectural historian Tony Merrick, 'Mill Moat' was originally the mill-owner's residence and, like the mill-workers' houses it adjoins, was probably built in the late eighteenth century with improvements around 1820. Merrick states that the group 'must be among the oldest surviving domestic buildings in Holywood'. Ordnance Survey Memoirs note the presence of two small water mills in Ballykeel, featuring one overshot wheel sixteen feet in diameter and one breast wheel fifteen feet in diameter.

The house forms part of a historically significant group that recalls the early industrial heritage of the town and is of historic and social importance. It contributes significantly to the historic streetscape and the architectural heritage of the surrounding area.