Dunover House, 56 Dunover Road, Dunover, Ballywalter, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2LW

Dunover House is a large, relatively plain two-storey gentleman's residence of possible mid-eighteenth-century origin or earlier, situated to the south of Dunover Road roughly one and a half miles north-west of Ballywalter, County Down. The house has been much extended at the rear in the 1830s and partly modernised in the twentieth century.

The original section of the house is finished in rough cast render with a pitched roof of Bangor blue slates and four rendered chimney stacks with stone parapets. The rear extension and remainder of the building are finished in plain render. The rear section is entirely flat-roofed, having had its pitched roof replaced around 1930-40. Two broad side-facing chimney stacks are positioned between the original building and the rear portion, probably originally standing between two pitched roofs. Cast iron rainwater goods are present throughout. Sections of the front facade and the three-sided bay are covered in greenery.

The front (east) elevation originally had a formal layout which has been substantially altered in recent times. A central modern glazed door with a small portico consisting of two simple granite columns supporting a lintel frieze and cornice forms the focal point. To the far right of this doorway are two sash windows with plain rendered modern label moulding above. To the far left, the symmetry has been compromised: where two windows undoubtedly once stood to match the right-hand side, there is now a single broad opening with a modern steel frame and simple label moulding. The first floor originally had seven formally arranged sash windows similar to those on the ground floor right. The two at the far left, like the pair formerly directly below, have been replaced by a single broad opening with steel frame. The remaining first floor windows retain their original appearance with label moulding.

The south gable has two modern steel-framed windows to the first floor and one to the right on the ground floor. The north gable features a broad fixed-light window centrally positioned on the ground floor, with a similar-sized steel-framed window above on the first floor.

The rear of the house was greatly extended along its entire length, probably in the 1830s, doubling the width of the building and originally giving it a double-gabled appearance. This two-storey extension has since had its pitched roof removed and replaced with a flat roof. The north gable of the extension projects marginally beyond the gable of the original dwelling and has two steel-framed windows to the first floor, with that to the right being broader, and a similar broad steel-framed window to the ground floor. A modern single-storey boiler and utility extension of circa 1940s date is attached to the rear of the house on the left side of this gable.

The south gable consists of a large, three-sided, two-storey bay with a tall sash window featuring Georgian panes to each side on the first floor. Similar windows exist on the outer sides of the bay to the ground floor, but the window to the central face is now blocked. The rear of the house has four evenly spaced tall sash windows with Georgian panes to the ground floor, and five similar but slightly shorter windows to the first floor. To the far left on the ground floor is a modern timber-sheeted rear door with a plain sidelight; the modern single-storey extension lies to the left of this. Directly above this extension is a cast iron framework supporting a dilapidated water tank.

The property is picturesquely situated in well-wooded surroundings and still has the appearance of a building of considerable local importance. A medieval motte (DOW 012:004) lies a short distance to the north-west of the house, and an apple and pear orchard occupies the immediate south-east.