80 Enagh Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT25

A detached three-bay two-storey house of lime-rendered rubblestone, built circa 1820 and substantially altered in the early 1870s. The building stands on an elevated site at the end of a lane to the east of Enagh Road, within its own mature grounds.

The house is rectangular on plan, with a pitched natural slate roof carrying black clay ridge tiles and four profiled cement-rendered chimneystacks with black clay verges. The walls are finished in rough-cast lime render over rubblestone. The front elevation, facing northwest, is three windows wide. The left-hand window is a six-over-six timber sash; the remaining windows are two-over-two timber sashes. All openings have square heads with redbrick surrounds and concrete sills, with original timber sash windows retaining exposed sash boxes at the front of the wall. An off-centre square-headed door opening contains a vertically-sheeted timber door with a rectangular overlight, opening onto a large granite platform that leads to a cobbled front area.

The rear elevation displays a random arrangement of window openings, containing two-over-two timber sash windows and a single steel casement window. The south gable has a single square-headed window opening with a timber casement to the first floor left. The north gable is abutted by a pair of single-storey rubblestone byres with corrugated iron roofs.

The setting is enclosed at the front by a pair of wrought-iron gates hung on circular-plan rubblestone piers. A roofless range of outbuildings stands to the east of the house.

The building evolved from an initial single-storey vernacular dwelling shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 alongside two outbuildings, one of which appears to have survived. The dwelling was raised and substantially improved in the early 1870s, reflecting the increasing prosperity of its tenant-farmer occupiers. Griffith's Valuation records the house as the residence of Samuel Craig (Bob), a tenant farmer working a 23-acre holding leased from John Herron; the buildings were valued at £1 10s, indicating a single-storey vernacular dwelling with rent of 40s. In 1872 the farm was taken by James Mears, and the same year the valuation rose to £3, suggesting the farmhouse was raised and improved. Alex Mears occupied it in 1873, followed by William Johnston in 1882 and Thomas Johnston in 1901. The 1901 census records Thomas Johnston, a 27-year-old farmer, living in the house with his two sisters, one a seamstress. The slated building of six rooms was categorised second class. At the First General Revaluation (1933–34), the owner was Herbert Rankin; the buildings were revalued at £3 10s with £1 for agricultural outbuildings. The accommodation comprised two bedrooms, two rooms, and a kitchen. The house was then described as an unoccupied farmhouse in rather poor condition. The building comprised 1¾ storeys of rubble masonry with slate roofing and an attached single-storey outbuilding. The house currently stands empty and in disrepair.

Much historic fabric and modest original detailing survive, including the developed plan and detailing demonstrating the improvements made during the 1870s. The house represents a good example of a substantial farmhouse and an increasingly rare vernacular dwelling in its original setting.