12 Kearney Village, Kearney Road, Kearney, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1QP

12 Kearney Village is a large single storey vernacular house with attic, dating from around 1840, with a substantial two storey rear return added in the 1960s. The building is situated at the south-western edge of Kearney Village and retains considerable character.

The front façade faces roughly west and is asymmetrical in composition. To the left of centre is a modern glazed door set in a simple moulded architrave, flanked to the left by a sash window with Georgian panes in a similar surround. Two further windows of the same type are positioned to the right of the door. The south gable end is blank, whilst the north gable features a smaller attic window without surround. The rear elevation of the main section displays two windows matching those on the front but smaller and without surround, with similar windows set in gabled half dormers either side of the two storey gabled return. The two storey return incorporates a variety of modern casement, sash and other windows, all with Georgian-like panes. A stable door is located on the north-east side of the return.

The entire building is covered in plain render and painted. The main section has a gabled roof covered with Bangor blue slates, with stone parapets and four evenly spaced rendered chimney stacks topped with uniform pots. The return also features a gabled roof with matching slates. Cast iron gutters and downspouts run throughout. A low-level garden approached via steps near the front entrance lies to the west of the building.

The Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a small building on this site, possibly an outbuilding rather than a dwelling. The original portion of the present house first appears on the revised map of 1860. The two storey return dates from the 1960s.

Kearney Village has significant historical interest. In the early medieval period the townland was held by the McKearney family, possibly distantly related to the O'Neills of Tyrone. During the later medieval period it came under the Savages, a Gaelicised Norman family, who leased much land to the Smiths. A 1643 lease from Patrick Savage to Patrick Smith refers to the mill, mill ponds and watercourses, which were highly lucrative. By the late 17th century the Savages had leased to the Ross family of Rosstrevor, who held the lands throughout the 18th century. A lease of March 1729 provides the first indication of substantial settlement at the present village site. Growth continued throughout the remainder of the century as locals worked on farms and at nearby flax and corn mills, whilst supplementing incomes through salvage of shipwrecks and possibly smuggling or wrecking. The village reached its greatest extent around the 1830s with 33 families, two schools (one Church of Ireland and Catholic, the other Presbyterian) and a ceilidh house. Most buildings visible today were present at this time, though few details are recorded in the 1836 valuation as most were exempt from rating. Only three single storey dwellings are mentioned: those occupied by Hugh and John McNabb and Widow Hasty, who owned the nearby windmill.

Decline began in the latter half of the 19th century. By 1900 the population had halved as people migrated to towns or emigrated. By 1938 most Kearney farms and cottages had passed to Hugh Orr, who had established a model farm nearby. By 1945 only three houses were occupied by seven residents. When the National Trust acquired the village twenty years later with funds from the Enterprise Neptune campaign, it had become virtually derelict. Since 1965 the Trust has worked to restore and reconstruct Kearney according to the 1834 Ordnance Survey map plan, representing the village at its peak. Most houses are now occupied as full-time homes or holiday residences, all leased from the Trust. At the time of listing, only one original dwelling remained vacant awaiting imminent restoration.

The building has group value with other structures in Kearney Village.