7 The Diamond, Ballycastle, Co Antrim, BT54 6AW

A mid-19th century terraced house, 2 bays wide and 3 storeys high, located on The Diamond in Ballycastle. It replaced an earlier early 18th century house on the same site.

The building was substantially rebuilt around the 1840s, becoming a much deeper structure than its predecessor. It first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1857, though a smaller structure is shown on the 1832 map. The earlier building may have been a terrace of almshouses, probably constructed in the late or middle 18th century.

The façade is rendered and painted. The ground floor features a 6-panel door providing access to the upper floors on the eastern side. To the west is a shopfront in traditional style with a single-panel glazed entrance door to an office, alongside an 8-pane office window comprising a centre section of 4 large panes flanked by narrow 2-pane sections on either side. The door and window are unified by plain painted pilasters on each side, with a painted name fascia in neat lettering above indicating the ground floor occupant.

At first floor are two double-hung sliding sash windows with 12 panes each, positioned asymmetrically—one centred on the entrance door and the other on the shopfront. The second floor has matching 12-pane sash windows of lesser height, centred over those below. The window heads sit immediately beneath a shallow eaves corbel course with no roof overhang. Half-round gutters and downpipe are shared with No. 6 The Diamond.

The roof is natural slate with plastered chimneys at either end of the ridge; the western chimney is double the width of that to the east. The rear of the building has single double-hung sliding sash windows at each floor, with smooth rendered but unpainted walls. The roof on the rear elevation uses natural Bangor Blue slates, with ridge height matching adjacent buildings. The building occupies the middle position in a terrace of three with uniform building line.

The building has been substantially renovated internally and fitted with a modern shopfront. A modern shopfront has reduced some of the original character, and alterations to neighbouring properties have also diminished the group value of the terrace. The building is not considered to be of special architectural or historical interest.

Historical records show that Margaret McKinlay occupied the property for 30 years before Kathleen Boyd, who died in 1944, became the owner. Following Boyd's death, the building became the property of the Boyd and Fullerton Trustees until it became freehold in 1984 and is now owned by the ground floor occupant. The building is located within Ballycastle Conservation Area.