28 High Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5HL

28 High Street, Comber

A two storey early vernacular terrace house of pre-1834 origin, located at the north-east end of a terrace on the south-east side of High Street. The building stands on a slope rising north-east to south-west. Originally, this dwelling formed part of a much larger single residence which extended to encompass the property now numbered 30 High Street to the south-west.

The north-west front façade features a doorway positioned to the right on the ground floor, fitted with a timber panelled and glazed door with a four-pane fanlight, encased in a painted stone surround with keystone detail. To the left of the doorway is a sash window with glazing bars to the top sash (six panes over one). The first floor carries two windows matching the ground floor configuration. A small single-storey gabled return projects to the left at the rear, shared with No.30. The north-east face of this return has a partly glazed rear door to the right and a double sash window (matching the front frames) to the left. The south-east gabled face of the return is blank.

The rear façade of the main building has a window matching the front type to the right on the ground floor, with another directly above on the first floor. To the left sits a similar but narrower window at a higher attic landing level. Below this is a squat six-pane window. The exposed section of the north-east gable contains a much smaller attic window. The front façade is rendered in slightly rough plain render, the north-east gable in plain render, and the rear and return in rough cast, all painted throughout. The gabled roof and return roof are covered in natural slate. A rendered chimney stack rises from the centre and north-east end of the roof ridge. Aluminium rainwater goods and a Velux window to the rear are later additions.

The site is recorded as occupied on the 1722 map of Comber. The present house appears to have originally formed part of a larger single dwelling with the present No.30, probably that noted in the 1834 valuation as the residence of Hugh Harper. The valuers recorded that the property and the rest of the terrace were of reasonable age at that stage and may have dated from the 1790s or slightly later. The date of division into two separate dwellings is uncertain. The terrace is believed to have originally housed workers of the nearby brewery (later the Upper Distillery), and may have been purpose-built for this use. If so, the large original dwelling of which this property formed part, being considerably larger than the rest of the terrace, may have served as a foreman's residence.

In 1920 the terrace was acquired by Andrews flax spinning mill for employee housing. In 1980 it was vested in the Housing Executive. In 1984 the properties were acquired by Hearth Housing Association and sympathetically renovated and restored in 1986.