Tullyhubbert House, 80 Hillsborough Road, Tullyhubbert, Ballygowan, Co. Down, BT23 6AY

Tullyhubbert House is a large two-storey farmhouse with attic, situated on a rise at the end of a long drive approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Ballygowan on Hillsborough Road, County Down. The building appears to date from the latter half of the 19th century, though it may represent a remodelling of an earlier property. The façade, finished in salt and pepper pebbledash, appears to have been re-rendered in the early to mid-1900s, at which time the flat-roofed rear extension may have been added.

The main north-facing façade is symmetrical, with a central timber-panelled door featuring sidelights with panelled aprons and a three-pane elliptical fanlight, set within an elliptical arch-headed opening with plain rendered surround. To either side of the doorway on the ground floor are two sash windows with vertical glazing bars and plain rendered shouldered surrounds. The first floor contains five similar sash windows with matching surrounds, the heads of which merge in an eaves band, with a corresponding band linking the sills. The main house and return are finished in salt and pepper pebbledash with chamfered quoins and a smooth rendered base.

The west gable displays two windows on the ground floor and one on the first floor (matching the front windows), with two small windows at attic level with modern frames. The east gable similarly shows two windows on the ground floor and one on the first floor, with two attic windows. At the centre of the rear is a substantial two-storey flat-roofed extension. Its south façade includes a timber and glazed door on the ground floor to the right, with a small window to the left and a larger window on the first floor, both with modern frames. The short west face of the extension contains two small first-floor windows with modern frames. The exposed rear section of the main house to the left displays a first-floor window matching those of the front. The east side of the extension is attached to what is probably an original single-storey gabled return with loft. The return's west face contains a plain timber-sheeted door with a matching front-style window to its left, while its east face shows a similar window on the right and a broader window with modern frame to the left. The gable of the return contains a small loft door.

The main roof and return roof are gabled and covered in Bangor blue slates with red clay ridge tiles. The main roof displays an overhang and is topped with two tall rendered chimney stacks and a small cast-iron skylight to the rear. The return features a similar skylight to the east and a recent brick chimney stack. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present throughout.

To the rear of the house stands a large two-storey outbuilding in whitewashed rubble with a gabled slated roof, which appears older than the present house.

Ordnance Survey maps of 1834 and 1858 show a building on this site marked as Tullyhubbert House, though only the 1858 map appears to match the plan of the present structure. The stylistic features of the present building—its roof overhang, vertical-only glazing bars, and elliptical-headed doorway—suggest construction in the later 19th century or significant remodelling in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The rear outbuilding appears to be that shown on the 1858 map, which also indicates the property then possessed its own gate lodge to the north.

Valuation returns of 1834 record that Tullyhubbert House was in the possession of James Abernathy, with the house and outbuildings rated at the substantial value of £11-12-9, suggesting a property of considerable size. Earlier records from Pigot's Directory of 1824 indicate the house was then held by Robert Wilson. By 1863 it had passed to William Jelly, with the rateable value reassessed at £14. The relatively high ratings on both occasions, combined with the existence of a gate lodge, suggest the property was always substantial, possibly two-storey, raising the possibility that the present building represents a remodelling of an earlier Tullyhubbert House. By 1886 the property had changed hands again, with no mention of a Jelly ownership in George Henry Basset's County Down Directory of that year. The Mussenden family owned the property around 1863 and acted as agents for the previous owners, the Sinclair family of Belfast.