7 Ardmore Terrace, Holywood, Co. Down, BT18 9BH

7 Ardmore Terrace is a symmetrical three-bay, three-storey end terrace house built around 1850, located west of Ardmore Road in Holywood, County Down. It is the western property of a terrace of seven built in palatial form, reflecting Holywood's development following the arrival of the railway. The building is Grade B2 listed.

The house is rectangular on plan with two two-storey returns to the rear. The roof is pitched with natural slate and rectangular chimneystacks topped with terracotta pots and stone plinths. Half-round uPVC rainwater goods run along painted masonry eaves.

The principal (north-facing) elevation features ruled-and-lined painted render with simple rustication to the ground floor, quoins, a raised and chamfered plinth, and a smooth render string course between upper storeys. The ground floor has two 2/1 timber-framed sliding sash windows in canted bays, flanking a central single-panelled timber door with recessed moulded surround and round-headed plain transom light, accessed by three stone steps. The first floor has replacement timber-framed windows with a continuous sill and moulded architrave; the first-floor openings are topped with a projecting moulded cornice. The second-floor windows are diminutive replacement timber-framed windows. The east elevation has smooth painted render and features an 8/8 sash window to the ground floor with a uPVC window above on the first floor.

The west elevation has two uPVC windows to the ground floor. The rear elevation shows asymmetrical fenestration with a variety of timber-framed sliding sash windows, predominantly 6/6, all with projecting masonry sills. Two-storey returns to left and right contain a mix of modern timber and uPVC windows on exposed sections. The rear yard is enclosed by a roughcast rendered wall, now partly demolished.

The property retains much historic fabric, though the floor plan has been altered. The setting has been compromised by modern housing development, including Ardmore Park on the approach to Ardmore Court and further construction to the rear.

Ardmore Terrace was built in the late 1840s and let either as bathing villas or on permanent terms to professionals attracted to Holywood by the railway's opening. The terrace appears on the 1858 second edition Ordnance Survey map. Griffith's Valuation records (1856-64) initially listed the buildings as "Ormeau Terrace". A contemporary newspaper advertisement promoted "Villas in Holywood at reduced rent" with "Dining room, Drawing room and Seven Bedrooms with Hot and Cold Baths &c., and a never-failing supply of Water, without pumping." Number seven was occupied by John Charley at the time of Griffith's Valuation, leased from owner John Simms, valued at £58 10 shillings. The valuer noted the arrangement: first storey comprised dining room, parlour, closet, pantry and kitchen; second storey had two large bedrooms, bathroom, closet and servants room; the return contained scullery, store rooms and servants rooms.

By 1880 the occupier was James Boyle, followed by Robert E Young (1892) and W J Gilliland (1900), who became the immediate lessor of the whole terrace in 1902. Gilliland was an architect engaged mainly in commercial and industrial projects, a founder member of the Ulster Society of Architects, and a city councillor for Victoria Ward. He occupied the house until his death in 1929.

Much historic fabric remains intact, making this a fine example of its type, though the terrace's original setting has been compromised by subsequent development.