Ballyvester Farm, Killaughey Road, Ballyvester, Donaghadee, Co. Down

Ballyvester Farm is a largely plain, two-storey gabled farmhouse likely dating to the eighteenth century. The building has been altered and modernised, but retains a sense of considerable age in its overall form. It is unclear which facade serves as the front. The northwest facade features a centrally positioned doorway, now with a modern timber and glazed door. To the left of the doorway are two windows with plain rendered surrounds and PVC frames. A similar window sits to the right of the door, with four smaller, unevenly spaced windows above. The southwest gable adjoins a single-storey dwelling, which may be a conversion of an earlier blacksmith's forge, but is likely largely rebuilt recently. The northeast gable has a small window on the first floor, centrally placed. The southeast facade has a gabled porch of relatively recent construction, with twinned PVC windows on its southeastern face and a panelled door on the northeastern face. To the left of the porch is a taller window, similar to those on the northwest facade but with diamond leaded lattice in both panes. To the right of the porch are two twinned windows, again similar, with a single window at the far right. Four small windows, also with leaded lattice, are situated on the first floor. The entire facade is finished with a recent limestone chip render, with smooth render to the base and wall edges. The roof is steeply pitched and covered with Bangor blue slates. There are four unevenly spaced, rendered chimney stacks and PVC rainwater goods. Rubble-built outbuildings are located to the east.

The site is depicted on Ordnance Survey maps of 1834 and 1858-60, showing a building in the same layout as the current structure. The house is also documented in valuations of approximately 1836 and 1863. A survey from 1977 described the building as “late eighteenth century” and noted a surprising “intangible French feeling.”