28 Ballymore Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32 3PG

A symmetrical three-bay two-storey farmhouse dating from the early 1800s, located south of Ballymore Road in the townland of Ballymacaratty Beg. The building is a good example of Georgian vernacular farmhouse architecture, once typical of the area but now increasingly uncommon. Architectural detailing is largely intact and the original proportions and much of the original character survive.

The farmhouse has a rectangular plan with a single-storey extension to the rear. The roof is pitched natural slate with rendered chimneystacks. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods sit on a slightly projecting eaves course. The walls are lime render throughout. Windows are 8/8 timber sliding sash with exposed boxes and projecting masonry sills.

The principal elevation faces southwest and is three openings wide to each floor. At the centre is a recessed timber-sheeted entrance door set within an elliptical-arched opening with a fanlight (now filled) and three-pane side lights. The northwest gable has one window to ground floor and one to first floor on the left. The northeast rear elevation has a window to ground and first floor on the left, a timber-sheeted opening to ground floor centre with an infilled window at landing level, and abutted to the right by a single-storey extension with corrugated metal gates to the northwest. The southeast gable is blank.

The northwest gable faces the road, set back with an access lane to the front screened by mature trees. Access is gained to the north via square pillars with pointed caps. The front is lawned and enclosed by a modern timber fence. Modern farmyard buildings lie to the southeast and a modern bungalow to the southwest, which degrade the setting. The dry stone boundary walls and gate piers remain.

Historical records show the farmhouse was listed on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 as a rectangular structure with a rear return. Valuation records indicate that for over a century the house and return functioned as two separate dwellings occupied by members of the same family. The rear return was demolished and replaced around 1930. A shadow on the rear wall marks the position of the former return. The two dwellings were connected by a rear door which still survives beside the staircase of the main house.

The Townland Valuation of 1828-40 lists the main house as the property of Michael Fitzpatrick, with the rear house occupied by Bernard Devlin. Griffith's Valuation of 1863 lists both dwellings separately, valued at £2.10s and £1.5s respectively. At this time the dwellings were leased to Anne Fitzpatrick and John Fitzpatrick, who farmed over 13 acres leased from the Earl of Clanwilliam. The main house contained three rooms, the rear house two rooms. John Fitzpatrick was recorded as both farmer and stone mason. Hugh Fitzpatrick took over the smaller house in 1888. The 1901 census records John Fitzpatrick living with his wife and adult daughter (a dressmaker), while Hugh Fitzpatrick, an unmarried 39-year-old farmer, lived alone. By 1911, John Fitzpatrick no longer described himself as a stone mason. The building remained in Fitzpatrick family ownership until at least the 1950s and was listed as two separate dwellings until the early 1930s. The First General Revaluation records show the property valued at £7.10s with £1 for agricultural buildings, with plans indicating four rooms on the ground floor and three bedrooms on the first floor. The second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1860 shows an extension to the front façade used as a barn, which remained until at least the 1930s before being removed.

The dwelling house is currently vacant.