28 The Square, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5DU

28 The Square is a large two- and three-storey block occupying the entire south side of The Square in Comber. It brings together what were originally three separate dwellings into a single property, now used as a car showroom with offices. The central and eastern sections were once a single house, with two further dwellings contained within the section to the west. The block is largely late 18th century in origin, with the three-storey central section and the western portion probably dating from around 1790 to 1800. The two-storey section at the eastern end was added around 1846, built on the site of a slightly larger earlier house that had stood there since at least the early to mid 18th century. The whole site is shown as occupied on a 1722 map of Comber and on all subsequent maps.

The building was substantially altered in the later 1960s when the entire block was acquired by a Mr. Kane and converted into a car showroom and offices. Large modern extensions were added to the rear, and a garage forecourt with petrol pumps was installed at the front. As a result, the ground floor of virtually the entire front façade has been removed and replaced with continuous showroom glazing.

The three-storey central section is gabled. Its original ground floor wall has been entirely removed and replaced with a long timber showroom front comprising large modern windows set on a low rendered stall riser, surmounted by a continuous row of fanlights, with a centrally placed glazed pass door. At first- and second-floor level there are five symmetrically arranged window openings, each fitted with a sliding sash and case window without astragals. The outer windows are more closely spaced than the central ones, and the second-floor windows are slightly squatter. The eaves are finished with a parapet wall, which has plain corner pilasters and sits on a projecting rendered band with projecting corner stones. There are two rendered chimney stacks without pots, one to each gable. The north façade and gables are finished in lined render and painted. The roof is gabled and covered with concrete pan tiles, with rendered parapets.

To the east is the two-storey section added around 1846. Here too the ground floor front wall has been removed and the showroom front continues across the full width. At first-floor level there are five almost equally spaced sash and case windows matching those of the central section. A large modern canopy projects from the level of the first-floor cills and shelters a petrol station forecourt containing three pumps and a small wooden kiosk. This section is also gabled, with a rendered chimney stack without pots to the left-hand gable. The verge has a shallow parapet, and the left gable is blank. The facades are finished in lined render and painted, and the roof is covered with concrete tiles. To the far left of this section is a screen wall with large double timber gates.

The two-storey section to the west of the central block retains more of its original character at ground level. To the left is a panelled door with a moulded surround and plain fanlight, and to the right of it are two sash and case windows. Further right is a second door of the same design, and beyond that a large modern showroom window. At first-floor level there are five slightly unevenly spaced sash and case windows matching those elsewhere on the building. The roof of this section is hipped and covered with Bangor Blue slates. There are two chimney stacks, the left with six pots and the right with a single pot. The right-hand corner has moulded in-and-out quoins. The façade is finished in lined render and painted.

The short west-facing end elevation is finished in rubble masonry brought to courses. At ground floor there is a relatively small showroom window to the right side, and at first-floor level two eccentrically placed sash windows. A large modern glazed car showroom structure is attached to the right side of this gable.

The rear of the original building is almost entirely obscured by three large modern storage extensions. The only original rear opening visible is a sash window with Georgian panes at second-floor level on the far left of the central section.

The building has considerable historical significance. The site to the east, where the two-storey section now stands, was the location of the Gillespie family home, recorded on David Geddes's 1801 lease map of The Square as a property still in the family's possession. This was the birthplace in 1766 of the military figure Robert Rollo Gillespie. The ground immediately to the west, where the three-storey central section now stands, was at the same period leased to a Mr. Mortimer, though his property is not shown on the 1801 map as his lease still had time to run.

By 1834, the first valuation records show that the former Gillespie house had passed to a Henry Riddle, while the tall three-storey central house was in the possession of a William Stitt, who may have acquired it from Mortimer. The western block at that time contained two properties belonging to a Robert Stitt and an S. Davis respectively. The valuers noted that all four properties were of reasonable age, suggesting they were all late 18th century or very early 19th century in date.

In 1844, Isaac Andrews, a member of the local mill-owning family, purchased the three-storey central house at auction after William Stitt became insolvent. Seeking to enlarge both his home and his garden, Andrews subsequently bought the old Gillespie house to the east, demolished it, and built the present two-storey eastern extension on part of its site around 1846. The properties to the west remained as separate dwellings. Isaac Andrews died in 1883. His eldest son John remained in sole possession of the family home until around 1895, when he appears to have sold much of his Comber property to his brother, Thomas James. The subsequent history of the block is less clear, but all three dwellings appear to have remained in residential use until at least the late 1940s, before the entire block was converted to its current commercial use in the later 1960s.

A local tradition holds that during the demolition of the old Gillespie house around 1846, the foreman of the workers discovered a pot of gold coins. He concealed his find during the working day, returned for it after dark, and — according to the story — never had to work again.