16 Shore St, Cushendall, Co.Antrim

No. 16 Shore Street is a terraced two-storey two-bay rendered house constructed prior to 1859, probably around 1830. It stands on the northwest side of Shore Street in Cushendall village centre, adjacent to No. 14 Shore Street, forming part of a continuous terrace of similar two-storey houses that line this stretch of the street. The building is one of a row erected by the Turnly family in the early 19th century during their development of Cushendall as a coastal resort.

The house is square on plan facing southeast, with a pitched natural slate roof featuring terracotta ridge tiles, a single iron skylight to the front pitch, and a rendered chimneystack with clay pots at the southwest end. Cast-iron guttering is mounted on iron drive-through brackets to the rendered eaves course, with cast-iron hopper and downpipes. The walling is painted roughcast render, a particular feature of architectural interest.

The front elevation is two-bay and two-storey with square-headed window openings. These have painted masonry sills and replacement 6/6 sliding timber sash windows with ogee horns and exposed sash boxes. A central square-headed door opening contains a replacement sheeted timber door with a glazed panel. The southwest side is abutted by adjoining house No. 14 Shore Street, while the northeast side adjoins No. 18 Shore Street.

The rear elevation is visible from the high-level land to the rear. The natural slate rear roof slope includes a single iron skylight, and the first floor features three 6/6 timber sliding sash windows. The rear walling is painted roughcast render.

This is an unusually unaltered example of urban vernacular architecture, retaining its simple proportions, plain aesthetic, and significant historic fabric. The external roughcast finish, decoration, and fenestration are of particular interest. The building has integral group value with No. 14 Shore Street and is an important component of the village's historic centre. It was included in the Cushendall Conservation Area designation in 1975 and listed in 1976.

The building's history reflects Cushendall's transformation from an insignificant settlement into a developed village. Francis Turnly, the village's proprietor, purchased the Newtownglens estate in 1801 and renamed it Cushendall, subsequently undertaking extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads. The growth of tourism to the Giant's Causeway spurred development of hotels and commercial properties along Shore Street. No. 16 first appears with certainty in Griffith's Valuation of 1859, when it was valued at £5 and 10 shillings and leased to William Martin by the Turnly family. John McAlister took possession around 1877 and the McAlister family occupied the house until the 1950s. The 1911 Census recorded it as a second-class dwelling with two inhabited rooms, a piggery, fowl house and shed. In 1972, a contemporary architectural survey described the building as part of "exceptionally well-painted white roughcast and blue" properties with "all glazing complete" on Shore Street. The rateable value rose from £5 10s. in 1859 to £7 in 1936 and £17 by 1972.