12-18 Victoria Avenue, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 3EB

A terrace of four late Victorian two-storey houses dating from around 1887–1891, situated on the west side of Victoria Avenue on the north side of Newtownards town centre.

The three western houses (Nos. 12–16) are almost identical in design. Each has an entrance to the right of the front facade, with a moulded architrave and decorative brackets supporting a segmental arch pediment above. The doors have semicircular arch fanlights; Nos. 12 and 14 retain their original panelled doors, while No. 16 has a modern panelled and glazed replacement. To the left of each doorway is a canted bay topped with a cornice, blocking course and flat roof. The first floor of each house contains three windows set within moulded architraves on a cill course with brackets; the two left-hand windows are paired. No. 12 retains its original sash frames, whilst Nos. 14 and 16 have PVC replacements. The front facade of No. 12 is painted; Nos. 14–16 are rendered in plain cement. All three have two-storey gabled returns to the rear with modern windows, some enlarged. Nos. 12–14 have single-storey lean-to store extensions attached to their return gables, and the rear facades are finished in plain cement render.

No. 18 is a larger, double-fronted house. Its central doorway is similar to those of Nos. 12–16 but features a larger pediment, more decorative brackets and a decorative panel between the brackets; the door is timber sheeted. Canted bays flank the doorway on either side. The first floor has paired outer windows and a single central window, all with shouldered and heeled architraves resting on a cill course with brackets. The front facade is rendered and painted. Original sash frames survive to the front; those to the rear are mostly modern. The north gable now incorporates a modern glazed corridor linking No. 18 to the formerly detached No. 20, and a large modern single-storey extension at the rear also connects the two buildings.

The entire terrace has a gabled roof with Bangor blue slates and yellow brick chimneys. Nos. 12–16 have Velux windows of varying sizes to the rear. The guttering and downpipes are a mixture of cast iron and PVC.

The internal layouts of Nos. 12–16 appear largely intact, though Nos. 14 and 16 have lost some of their original fireplaces. No. 18's interior has been radically altered in recent times to accommodate office accommodation, which conversion took place during the 1980s.

Victoria Avenue was laid out in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, though it was originally intended to be called Railway Avenue. The houses were built either in 1887 or shortly thereafter; by 1891 it was remarked that houses were being erected faster than anticipated. As this section of the terrace is close to the south end of the street, nearer to the town centre, it may have been among the earliest portions to be constructed.