13 High St., Cushendall, Co.Antrim

No. 13 High Street, Cushendall, is an end-of-terrace, two-bay, three-storey rendered mid-Victorian dwelling, built prior to 1857 and located on the northeast side of High Street close to the village centre. It was constructed together with the adjoining No. 15 as a single dwelling, and the two were divided into separate houses in 1893.

The building is rectangular on plan, faces southwest, and terminates a short terrace of four buildings that lines the northeast side of High Street on a steep gradient. The roof is pitched natural slate with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles. A rendered chimneystack with terracotta pots rises from the southeast gable. Rainwater goods are cast-iron guttering on iron drive-through brackets with cast-iron downpipes. The external walling is painted ruled-and-lined cement render.

The two-bay, three-storey front elevation has square-headed window openings with painted concrete sills and replacement single-pane sliding timber sash windows with angled horns and exposed sash boxes. There is an additional window to the left at ground-floor level only. The central entrance has a square-headed opening with a replacement hardwood glazed and panelled door. Between the first-floor windows is an engraved plaque reading 'TIEVE.NA.CRENA'. The northwest side abuts the adjoining No. 15.

The two-bay, three-storey rear elevation has roughcast cement-rendered walling with top-hung hardwood casement windows and concrete sills. A single ground-floor opening incorporates both a door and window, fitted with a sheeted hardwood glazed door.

The gabled southeast side elevation has a single window to the left at first- and second-floor levels and two windows at ground-floor level. This elevation supports an elliptical-headed voussoired red sandstone carriage arch, shared with the neighbouring No. 11 High Street, though the left pier has been rebuilt in concrete block.

The setting is notable: the building terminates a short terrace of four houses climbing a steep gradient, with a small paved front area enclosed by replacement steel railings set in a low rendered plinth wall, with a matching steel pedestrian gate. A concrete driveway along the gabled side elevation passes under the carriage arch and opens into a concrete-paved rear yard.

Although the original windows and front door have been replaced — works recorded around 1984, which also included installing new entrance doors and reslating using Bangor Blue slates — the historic proportions and style remain intact. No. 13 has group value with No. 15, and the terrace as a whole contributes to the character of the historic village centre.

The historical background to the building is closely tied to the development of Cushendall itself. The majority of buildings along High Street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the landowning Turnly family. Francis Turnly, Cushendall's proprietor, had travelled to China in 1796 and accumulated a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 he used this money to purchase the estate of Newtownglens from the Richardson family for £24,000, subsequently renaming the settlement Cushendall. At the time of purchase the village consisted of little more than a number of insignificant cabins, a mill and a bridge. As tourist traffic through the area increased — particularly travellers making their way to the Giant's Causeway — Turnly developed the village into a coastal resort, with hotels such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street and numerous commercial properties being erected. Turnly has been described as an eccentric character who effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property.

Nos. 13 and 15 High Street appear on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857, confirming they were built by that date. It is possible they were erected as early as the 1830s and may appear in the Townland Valuations of 1834, though this cannot be confirmed due to the loss of the accompanying Town Plan for Cushendall. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 recorded nos. 13–15 as a single private dwelling valued at £18 and 10 shillings, leased by the Turnly family to Daniel Jamison, a local rate collector and farmer. The Annual Revisions note the subdivision into two dwellings around 1893, at which point the larger No. 13 was revalued at £10.

The 1901 Census of Ireland recorded Daniel Jamison — by then over eighty years old — residing at No. 13 with his brother John, who was employed as an engineer. The census building return described the house as a first-class dwelling of ten rooms, with outbuildings including a stable, cow house, piggery, barn and turf house. Daniel Jamison continued to reside there until his death around 1905, after which the house was acquired by a Mr. Herbert McConnell.

Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), the house was occupied by a Ms. Catherine Connolly and its value was increased to £12. The Connolly family continued to reside there until at least the 1970s and purchased the house outright from the Turnly estate in 1967. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the value stood at £20.

High Street was praised in a 1972 Ulster Architectural Heritage Society publication as 'an outstandingly attractive street, of quite exceptional merit and character, climbing very steeply indeed from the crossing of the main street to Court McMartin, almost every building in it of individual merit apart from the value of the group as a whole; the roofs, gables, doors and windows rise in an irregular staircase up the hillside.' Nos. 11–19 High Street were specifically described as 'a very pleasing group climbing the steepest part of the hill, their storeys accordingly somewhat breathlessly arranged, part Georgian and part Regency glazed.' The buildings along High Street were included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975 — only the second conservation area in the province to have been designated at that time — and in that year the village was also chosen as one of Northern Ireland's four pilot schemes for conservation during European Architectural Heritage Year. No. 13 High Street was listed in 1976.