7 The Strand, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1PE

This property was a two-storey terrace house with shop, dating from approximately the 1840s, located within the terrace fronting The Strand to the south-west of Portaferry town centre. It was demolished in 2000 and replaced with two dwellings.

The building had an asymmetrical front façade facing south-west. To the right of centre was a panelled timber house door with a plain fanlight. To the far left was a plain sheeted timber door with a boarded fanlight, which led into a through passage to the rear. Between these two doors was a shop front comprising a large six-pane timber window with timber cill and adjoining recessed timber panel double door with fanlight, all encased with simple narrow timber pilasters. To the right of the house door was a sliding sash and case window with astragals. The first floor had four similar but unevenly spaced windows.

To the left at the rear was a two-storey gabled return, abutted on its right by a lean-to section which was open at ground floor level. The return's north-west face had a sash window to the first floor and a modern window to the ground floor. The lean-to's north-west face had two sash windows to the first floor and one to the right on the ground floor. The north-east face had a sash window to the first floor, with the rear door located within the open ground floor section. The main rear façade to the right of the lean-to had a single sash window to the first floor and a dilapidated glazed door to the ground floor. The through passage returned at the far right.

The gabled roof was covered with Bangor blue slates and had a single yellow brick chimney with bracketed corbelling and uniform pots. An eaves course ran around the building. The front featured three gabled dormers with Bangor blue slate roofs, decorative barge boards, finials and brackets. Each dormer contained a sliding sash and case window with two-pane side windows. Cast iron gutters and downspouts were fitted throughout.

The building is shown on Patrick O'Hare's map of 1799 as belonging to William Brown. The valuation plan of circa 1835-1838 shows a building of similar plan to the 19th-century structure, though the valuation returns note it as 'exempt', suggesting it was in poor repair at that time. Whether the building shown on the 1835-1838 plan was substantially the same structure as that which existed in the 19th century is unclear; the earlier house's poor condition may suggest the site was rebuilt. By 1861 the property appeared as documented above, with the passage marked to the north-west side. The occupant in 1861 was James McKibbin. The building was demolished after planning approval circa 2000 and replaced with two dwellings.