The Hill, 42 Ballydown Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32 3RP

The Hill is a two-storey with attic three-bay farmhouse built between 1840 and 1859, located at the end of a long lane approximately one mile south-east of Banbridge town centre in County Down. A scheduled monument site (DOW034006) lies adjacent to the south-east.

The building displays overall character and proportions that survive largely intact from its period. The original structure maintains its rectangular plan form with detailing and fabric that exemplify a good, largely unaltered example of a farmhouse of this type. However, a modern two-storey flat-roofed L-shaped rear return, constructed after 1975, detracts from the main building, having replaced the original dwelling which once abutted the south-west elevation.

The pitched natural slate roof features clay ridge tiles and is equipped with replacement uPVC rainwater goods. Red-brick chimneys with pots punctuate the roofline. The principal walls are finished in ruled-and-lined rendered walling with raised flush quoins and a projecting plinth.

The principal elevation faces north-west and is symmetrically arranged. It features a central four-panelled bolection-moulded timber front door with moulded surrounds and cast-iron ironmongery, flanked by three-pane side lights with horizontal glazing bars and aprons, topped by a fanlight. The whole is embraced by a segmental arched opening with a raised cement voussoir surround and enlarged key block. Granite steps lead to the entrance. A single window flanks the door on each side, with three first-floor windows directly above. The windows are original 6/6 timber sliding sashes with no horns, granite cills, and cement-moulded surrounds throughout, unless otherwise noted.

The north-east gable is symmetrically arranged with two ground-floor windows and a diminutive 3/3 attic sash window in the gable head. The south-east elevation is asymmetrical, abutted by the modern return which features timber casement picture windows. The south-west gable is also asymmetrical, containing a single modern timber glazed door at ground floor with a single uPVC replacement first-floor window above it. An abutting rubble wall runs along the ground floor to the left.

The farmhouse occupies an elevated site overlooking rural landscape. The entrance to the site is marked by roughcast-rendered square gate piers surmounted by pyramidal caps with wrought-iron gates, which are included in the listing. An early "K6" type telephone kiosk stands adjacent to the right gable. The setting is enhanced by the presence of vernacular outbuildings, some predating 1830 and finished in roughcast render, alongside 20th-century corrugated-iron structures that represent the evolution of the smallholding.

Historical records indicate that prior to the construction of the current house, an earlier dwelling and farm buildings occupied the site. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 records the original dwelling to the south-east of the present location, with two outbuildings dating from at least 1833. The current house was constructed between 1833 and 1859, when it first appeared on the second edition map, and was built adjacent to the original dwelling. By the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1859, the house was well established.

The 1859 Griffith's Valuation records that The Hill and its farm buildings were occupied by John H. Crothers, described as a Gentleman, who leased the property from John Joseph Whyte of the landowning Whyte family of Loughbrickland. The site was valued at £16 in 1859. Crothers occupied The Hill until approximately 1892, when Hugh Glass, a solicitor from Banbridge, briefly took possession until his death in December 1891. Thomas Mathers, a farmer, assumed occupation around 1895 and the Mathers family has continuously resided at The Hill since that date.

The 1901 Census Building Return described the farmhouse as a first-class dwelling of nine rooms with numerous outbuildings including a stable, cow house, piggery, boiling house, and barn. In 1908, Mathers purchased the site from the Whyte estate. The 1911 census reclassified the dwelling as second-class. The site's valuation remained at £16 throughout the period until the Annual Revisions ended in 1929. The name "The Hill" first appeared on Ordnance Survey maps in 1902–03.

Since the building's listing in 1977, the original dwelling abutting the rear has been demolished and replaced with the modern return (a change occurring after the 1975 Ordnance Survey map). The original farm buildings to the east and south-east have likewise been replaced with modern corrugated-iron structures. Despite these later alterations, the original building survives virtually intact with detailing and fabric largely preserved. Early 20th-century decoration adds further interest to the structure. The building is Grade B2 listed, with the house, gate pillars, and gates forming the extent of the listing.