5-7 The Diamond, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry, BT55 7EA

A two-and-a-half-storey building on the east side of The Diamond in Portstewart town centre, built between 1875 and 1882 as part of a terrace of townhouses. It was formerly two separate two-storey, two-bay rendered terraced dwellings but has been amalgamated with neighbouring properties following conversion to hotel use in 2006. Despite substantial alterations, the front façade retains its late-nineteenth-century character and the building remains of special historic interest, holding group value with the other listed buildings in the terrace.

The building is rectangular on plan with a pitched natural slate roof fitted with blue-black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystacks. Plastic rainwater goods are carried on projecting eaves. The walls are of rubble stone with lime pointing. Windows are replacement timber sash units, with 6/6 lights to the ground floor and 3/6 lights to the first floor, all fitted with horns, flat brick heads and projecting concrete sills. The principal elevation faces west and reads as two terraced units, each with three openings to each floor. Ground floor openings on both units have replacement four-panelled timber doors surmounted by slender transom lights and flat brick heads.

The north gable is abutted by the adjoining building numbered 4A; the south gable is abutted by building numbered 4E. The east elevation was not viewed. The building is set back from the road with a tarmacadamed public parking area to the front. A large modern two-and-a-half-storey extension with dormers has been added to the north side of the terrace and extends to its full length at the rear. The setting is prominent, facing an important junction on the approach to the town centre, with Agherton Parish Church located to the north side of The Diamond.

Historical records show that buildings stood on this site from at least 1830, though the earliest structures were recorded as four low-value, possibly single-storey vernacular buildings valued between £1 and £2 10 shillings. The terrace was remodelled in its present form between 1875 and 1882 as seven dwelling houses, reflecting Portstewart's growth as a successful bathing resort, though the row shows no architectural pretension and likely retained fabric from its earlier predecessors. The larger house and shop at the northern end formed a successful commercial enterprise while the attached terrace was let to working-class tenants.

Numbers five and seven were remodelled and entered into valuation records in 1880, being leased from William Martin, who appears to have been the site's developer. The rebuilt number five was initially valued at £4 10 shillings and recorded as vacant, but by 1881 was occupied by William Law. By 1900 it had passed to Henry Dixon, a merchant tailor running a shop in the adjacent houses, and in 1905 it transferred to Charles Upson, a grocer. The house was frequently vacant thereafter, though documented occupants included Rose Graham in 1914 and John Logan in the early 1930s. In the 1930s the accommodation comprised a kitchen and five rooms, with a rent of £3 per quarter.

Number seven was also leased from William Martin. By 1881 it was occupied by Nicholas Cunningham, and by 1900 by Richard Brown, a general labourer from Tyrone, who lived there with his wife and two young sons in a seven-room house. Subsequent tenants included William J Wallace, Tomas Martin, James Murphy, John McMullan, James McPeake Junior, Richard O'Dowd and John Boyce. In the 1930s the accommodation comprised a kitchen, parlour and four bedrooms at a rent of £3 per quarter. The associated plan shows the terrace with coalsheds, WCs and open sheds with corrugated iron roofs in the rear yard.

In 2006 permission was granted for the conversion of 1-5 The Diamond, with the replacement of 2-4 Lever Road to the rear with a 17-bed boutique hotel featuring lounge bars, restaurant and conference facilities, designed by Kevin Cartin Architects Limited. The development ultimately incorporated number 7 as a snug bar and an additional bedroom. The front elevation has been retained, but little original fabric remains to the rear.