174 Huntly Road, Milltown, Banbridge, County Down, BT32 3BJ

174 Huntly Road is a split-level house of approximately 1840-50, built as one of three similar but non-identical dwellings forming a short terrace constructed for employees of the now-demolished nearby mill. It is a relatively early surviving example of mill-workers' housing and retains an unusual layout with much of its original fabric intact.

The terrace was built into sloping ground on the west side of Huntly Road, set back from a longer terrace to the east. The building is brick-built. The property is currently vacant and in a state of disrepair, with much of the façade obscured by plant growth and bushes.

The asymmetrical single-storey front elevation faces roughly north. To the left is a boarded-up entrance. To the right is a window with a two-over-two timber sash frame, largely obscured by bushes. The two-storey west gable is obscured by trees and bushes. Attached to the ground floor of the gable is a single-storey brick projection, now heavily overgrown and dilapidated. A further smaller single-storey brick projection attached to the gable contains the rear doorway to the property on its south face, with a part-glazed door subsequently patched with boards. This projection has a small window with recent timber frame on its west face.

The south elevation has two ground-floor windows with dilapidated remains of six-over-six timber sash frames, and two smaller first-floor windows with three-over-six timber sash frames. The gabled roof is slated with clay ridge tiles. A brick chimneystack at the west end of the ridge is now largely obscured by plant growth. The rainwater goods consist of a mixture of original cast iron and recent PVC-u replacement.

The terrace is first shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1858-60. It was built by the Smyth family for employees of their nearby bleach and corn mills at Milltown. The plain character of the terrace makes precise dating difficult, but valuation records indicate it was not considered new by 1861, suggesting a date as early as circa 1840. The property was occupied by Bernard McClurg in 1861 and remained in the McClurg family until around 1905. It was subsequently occupied by Samuel Lynas (1905-09), followed by Henry Wilson (1909-27) and Mary Wilson (1927 to at least 1935). The Wilsons also held the neighbouring property during this period. The building appears to have been vacated around 1990.