5 High Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5QE

This is a large, two-storey terrace house of approximately 1835-40, situated on the north side of High Street at the east end of Comber, set at an angle to the street line.

Front Façade

The front (south-facing) façade features a James Gibbs style 'Ards' doorway positioned left of centre, fitted with a modern PVC door and semicircular fanlight. To the left of the doorway is an enlarged window with a modern frame; to the right is a similar enlarged window. Further right is a carriage entrance with a shallow elliptical arch head and double timber sheeted doors. The first floor has four sash windows, unevenly spaced. The façade is finished in lined render, painted.

The front ground floor windows were enlarged around 1969. A photograph from December 1970 shows the windows had already been enlarged by that date, with fresh unpainted render beneath, suggesting the enlargement was recent at that time.

Rear Façade and East Gable

The rear façade shows more complex development. On the ground floor, the rear of the carriage entrance is visible to the left. To its left is a window with a modern frame, then a doorway at an intermediate level fitted with a modern glazed door and modern metal staircase. A small fixed light window sits directly beneath the staircase. To the right is a set of modern patio doors, adjoining a heavily modernised single-storey section extending northward. This connects to a large two-storey former outbuilding, now extensively modernised and used as an office.

The first floor of the rear façade has three unevenly spaced windows of varying sizes, all with modern frames. Two windows (left and centre-left) may have been reduced in size. The rear façade is mainly unrendered, revealing sandstone construction. The west gable is blank, finished in unpainted rough cast. The gabled roof is covered in asbestos slates with two chimney stacks, one mainly rendered and one of fairly recent red brick construction. PVC rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

Historical Development

The site is shown as occupied on the earliest maps of Comber, dating from the 1720s. The map accompanying the first valuation of 1833 appears to show a longer building on the site, which the valuers' notes indicate was not even a dwelling. A building matching the plan of the present house, though without the outbuildings, appears on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, with the complete ensemble shown on the revised 1858 map. The property is undoubtedly pre-1858, but was probably built after 1834. Its Gibbsian 'Ards' doorway and sandstone construction suggest a date of approximately 1835-40.

The ground floor has been used for commercial purposes in recent years and is now utilised as an office.