8 The Crescent, Holywood, County Down, BT18 9AY

8 The Crescent is a three-storey, three-bay symmetrical Georgian terraced house built around 1800, located south of High Street in central Holywood. It has architectural and historical significance as part of an informal square setting that combines this Georgian terrace with a Victorian terrace positioned at right angles.

The house began as an isolated late eighteenth-century farmhouse at the village edge. In the 1820s, Hugh Stewart, newly appointed Post Master of Holywood, acquired the plot and redeveloped it to create a terrace of four houses, during which the original farmhouse was raised by one storey. The current building reflects this complex genesis, with architectural detailing of quality that is largely intact, though much interior detailing has been lost and finishes are largely modern.

The building is rectangular on plan with a two-storey gabled return to the rear and a garage to the west. The pitched natural slate roof sits above rectangular brick chimneystacks with stone plinths and terracotta pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods with drive-in brackets run down the main elevation, with uPVC goods to the rear extension.

The external walls are painted smooth render with quoins and a plinth, separated by a plat band between ground and first floors. Windows are primarily 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash with projecting stone sills. The canted bay windows feature 2/2 sliding sash with horizontal glazing bars and dividing Doric pilasters—these display Regency glazing character. Upper floors retain Georgian glazing patterns.

The principal elevation faces north and is symmetrically arranged across three openings. The entrance comprises a double-panelled timber door with brass furniture and a slender transom light, flanked by pilasters and surmounted by scrolled console brackets with a moulded cornice. A modern plaque records: "Ballystewart House: Hereabouts lived William E. Praeger, Linen Merchant, Father Robert, 1865-1953, The Naturalist and Author and Rosamund 1867-1954. The Sculptress."

The east elevation is abutted by an adjoining building. The west elevation is blank and abutted by a modern garage. The south rear elevation overlooks a large garden.

The terrace occupies a secluded square setting with mature trees, enclosed by a brick wall with modern electric gates to the north and by mature hedges to the east and west. Two outbuildings of limited interest stand to the rear; one has been converted to a modern garage. The square's informal character survives in relatively original form.

Historical records show that in the Townland Valuation of 1828–40 all houses were listed as property of Hugh Stewart, with this house valued at £12 12s. In Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, occupant William Haliday was assessed at £16. The valuer noted uncomfortable proportions and very low ceilings on the second storey, and commented that the house was not in as good order as others in the terrace. By 1903, under occupant James Ferris, the valuation rose to £13, with notes recording alterations and the addition of a bathroom. In Hugh Stewart's will of 1858, he bequeathed the Crescent houses to his daughter Harriet Kennedy "for her own sole use and benefit independently of her present or any future husband", with restrictions on sale, mortgage, or alienation during her lifetime. Subsequent occupants included Michael Browne (by 1887), Elizabeth Kennedy (1889), Ellen Brown (1911), and Thomas Cunningham (1925), who became immediate lessor in 1923.

The house is a good example of its type in fair condition and possesses group value within its own terrace. The architectural detailing demonstrates quality workmanship characteristic of early nineteenth-century Georgian design, although later alterations and modern finishes have compromised some historic fabric.