10 Ferry Street, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1PB

10 Ferry Street, Portaferry

This is the left-hand house in a two-storey terrace block of two small, informal houses, probably constructed before 1834. The building is situated on the east side of the sloping Ferry Street.

The front (western) façade is asymmetrical in arrangement. On the left is a large opening containing a substantial coachway with timber-sheeted double doors. To the right of this, separated by a narrow timber pier, stands a plain timber-sheeted front door with an adjoining sliding sash window, separated from the door by a wooden pier. Above, at first-floor level, is a double sash window. All windows have stone cills, and paint has been used to simulate a plinth.

The rear façade displays the rear of the coachway on the ground floor to the right. The remainder of the ground floor was obscured from view by a high wall immediately south of the coachway. The first floor contains three windows, with the central window set at a lower level (lighting a half-landing). The window to the right is modern; the others are sashes. The rear façade is finished in unpainted rough cast and contains a large carriage arch with timber-sheeted doors to the right. A small yard lies beyond, with no access. The elevation also features an intermediate-level window lighting the half-landing and a modern bathroom window at higher level to the right, with a sash window to the left without astragals.

Both this house and No. 12 adjoining have gabled roofs covered with fibre cement slates. A blue brick chimney with simple corbelling and matching pots sits centrally, with a rendered chimney stack between the two houses. Eaves course, cast iron gutters and down spouts complete the external features.

Historical records show a building or buildings on this combined site in 1799, then in possession of Hugh Donning. By the valuation of circa 1835, two two-storey houses stood on the site, owned by John McMullan and John Edwards respectively. These 1835 buildings may substantially be those visible today. Both houses, with outbuildings and the coachway to the north end, appear on the valuation map of circa 1861, then occupied by Anne Hogan and Margaret McCombe.