Springmount, 39 Springmount Road, Tullygarvan, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 6NF

Springmount is a large, late Georgian, two-storey, double-gabled farmhouse built in two distinct stages. The rear gabled section is almost certainly the original dwelling, possibly dating from the mid-18th century, while the new front portion was added — most probably between 1831 and 1834 — by a Peter Barry, who may have been a former army Captain. The house sits pleasantly to the west of Springmount Road, just over a mile west of Ballygowan.

The front (east) façade is finished in lined render with chamfered quoins and a high base, and presents a central timber panelled door with a semicircular fanlight, now filled with early 20th century stained glass. The doorway and fanlight are framed by a moulded architrave, itself encased with fluted pilasters supporting an unusual pediment broken at the base. This outer surround has an odd Mannerist character, and whether it is original is uncertain. Three steps lead up to the door. To the left and right of the doorway is a double sash window fitted with unsuitable louvred shutters added recently. Originally there were two single sash windows to each side of the doorway — confirmed by the current owner, who recalls the markings of the original window openings being visible when his father stripped the render. It is not known exactly when the change was made, though the owner states it was not within his memory, placing the alteration sometime before around 1935. To the first floor are five single sash windows. The windows throughout appear to have Georgian glazing bars, but this is an illusion created by the present owner, who has placed simulated glazing bars on the inside of the panes.

The south façade — which forms the double-gabled end — has a ground-floor window with one directly above it on the right-hand, or rear, gable (which sits roughly at the centre of the façade as a whole). Both windows are similar in size to the first-floor windows at the front, but have modern frames made to simulate sash windows with Georgian panes. The north façade has windows in an equivalent position to those on the south: the first-floor window retains a sash frame, while the ground-floor window has an overtly modern frame and is slightly larger.

The north and south façades are also finished in lined render with chamfered quoins. The rear of the main building and the extensions are finished in roughcast. The main roof and that of the oldest section of the rear extension are covered in Bangor Blue slates. There are four rendered chimney stacks, one to each gable. The front section of the roof has parapets. Notably, the pitch of the roof over the rear gable is marginally steeper than that over the front portion, which may further support the view that the rear section is the older of the two. Rainwater goods are a mixture of PVC and cast iron.

Across most of the ground floor of the rear façade runs a single-storey extension. The central portion appears to be the oldest part, with a slated hipped roof that was probably originally four-sided. The sections to the left and right of this are flat-roofed and are likely of much more recent construction. Each section of the extension has a modern window, though the opening in the oldest central section is probably original. The section to the left also has a partly glazed door adjoining its window. To the right of the extension on the main rear façade is a small window with a modern frame. At first-floor level on the rear are two small outer windows with modern frames designed to simulate the original sash, and a larger central stairwell window with Georgian panes.

Attached to the south façade of the left-hand section of the rear extension is a fairly recent-looking single-storey outbuilding, which in turn connects to the north wing of a courtyard of original two-storey rubble-built outbuildings. These outbuildings have been somewhat altered, with some new openings introduced and pan tiles added.

The interior reflects the two-stage development of the house. The first-floor level drops noticeably in the rear section, clearly indicating construction at different periods. Recent renovations also revealed evidence of two small windows in the wall between the kitchen and sitting room — a wall that would once have been the front of the original house.

The history of the property can be traced through documentary sources. The earliest mention of the farm occurs in a deed of 1739, when the lands were acquired by a man named Kyle, who sold them to a Gillespie in 1753. The original house could therefore conceivably date from the mid-18th century or earlier. Peter Barry acquired the farm in 1831, and since the present plan of the house is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834, the front extension must date to sometime between 1831 and 1834, which is consistent with the late Georgian appearance of the property. Springmount remained in Barry's possession until his death in 1867, after which it appears to have passed to a Thomas Fitzsimons. Around 1912 the house and its associated land were purchased by the Co-operative Society, with Springmount serving as the farm manager's residence. In 1925 the Co-operative Society sold the property to the present owner's father.