Drumdreenagh House, 39 Drumdreenagh Road, Drumdreenagh, Banbridge, County Down, BT34 5NG

Drumdreenagh House is a symmetrical two-storey three-bay farmhouse built around 1840, located off Drumdreenagh Road approximately one mile north-east of Rathfriland in County Down. The building has retained much of its historic character and original fabric, though various superficial contemporary additions and alterations detract from its appearance. It remains a good example of this type of farmhouse, with its outbuildings and landscape features contributing significantly to the overall setting and interest of the property.

The house has a rectangular plan form with a rear return, extension, and portico. The pitched natural slate roof features clay ridge tiles, replacement timber barge boards, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods; the chimneystacks are cement rendered. The walls are smooth cement rendered with faux-quoins painted directly onto the walling. The windows are 8/8 timber sliding sash with masonry cills and contrasting reveals, without horns. The principal entrance comprises a four-panelled timber door with bolection mouldings and wrought-iron ironmongery, flanked by raised-and-pointed panelled pilasters surmounted by scrolled brackets supporting a moulded cornice with a half-round bat-wing fan-light containing coloured glass. The whole door is embraced by a moulded doorcase with projected lugs and plinth stops, with a granite threshold. The tiled steps and concrete semi-circle classical-styled portico are post-1970 additions.

The principal elevation faces north-east and is symmetrically arranged, with the front entrance centrally positioned and single windows flanking it on both ground and first floors. The left gable is blank. The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. A two-storey gable-ended return to the left bay matches the eaves level with a slightly lower ridge level. The left cheek has a single ground and first floor window centrally located, with a blank gable above. A small single-storey flat-roofed extension sits right of centre. The right cheek is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension with crenellated parapet to the right elevation; two first floor windows face the rear elevation, whilst the right elevation has a multi-paned ground floor window left of centre. A gabled single-storey porch with segmental arched windows is located at the re-entrant angle where the extension meets the rear elevation, with a small multi-paned, margin-paned first floor window above. The right gable contains a single first floor window right of centre.

The house is set back from the main road but remains visible from it. The entrance to the site is served by rectangular piers surmounted by dentilled pedimented caps, with modern gates for pedestrian access and a cattle grid for vehicular access. The driveway is straight and lined with smooth plastered walls with saddle-back coping. A landscaped turning circle with central island and water feature addresses the front elevation. A concrete yard to the rear is encompassed by painted rubble masonry and block outbuildings with slate roofs and timber sheeted doors and fixed lights. The two-storey outbuilding immediately adjacent to the house is abstractly painted in an irregular black squared pattern and features roughcast walling with pedimented piers and wrought-iron gates. A round-headed archway adjoins the right gable of the dwelling, featuring a cornice course and projected geometric panelling.

Historical records indicate that Drumdreenagh House was constructed between 1833 and 1859, first appearing on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map conducted in 1859. By 1862, Griffith's Valuation records show the property was occupied by James Atkins, a local farmer who leased it from the Marquis of Downshire. The house and outoffices were valued at £15, a valuation that remained constant through the annual revisions until 1929. Atkins carried out alterations to the farm; the third edition Ordnance Survey maps (1901-02) show the construction of a small outbuilding to the rear and additions to an L-shaped outbuilding to the east that forms part of the current courtyard, though these works did not result in any change to the property's valuation.

Around 1901, the site passed into the possession of Robert Nesbitt. The 1901 Census records that Nesbitt, a 32-year-old Presbyterian farmer, resided at Drumdreenagh House with his wife Martha (34) and their infant daughter; the census building return described the house as a second-class dwelling consisting of eight rooms. By 1905, Robert Nesbitt had vacated the farm and was replaced by Mrs Annie Ellen Rea. The 1911 Census notes that Rea (44) and her two sons managed the farm, which by then had been upgraded to a first-class dwelling. The outbuildings to the east of the dwelling contained numerous farm offices including two stables, three cow houses, two calf houses, four piggeries, a boiling house, and a barn. Annie Ellen Rea and her sons continued to occupy the site until at least 1929.

The two-storey return extension was constructed prior to the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1975, which already depicted it. The tiled steps and concrete semi-circle classical-styled portico were added post-1970. The house was listed in 1977 and continues to be occupied.