4 Main Street, Cushendun, Co.Antrim

4 Main Street, Cushendun, is a modest two-storey, four-bay terraced house built around 1832, situated in the heart of the village of Cushendun, County Antrim. The architect is unknown. The building adjoins No. 2 Main Street to the south-east and No. 1 The Square to the north-west, and sits immediately to the back of the pavement facing onto Main Street, with the River Dun lying just to the south. It is located within both a Conservation Area and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The neighbouring properties to the north-east directly overlook the North Sea, with panoramic views of the coastline.

The building is of rectangular plan-form with a pitched natural slate roof, the ridge finished in concrete, with concrete coping to the left side gable skew. Two tall white painted rendered chimney-stacks sit at mid-ridge and carry black clay pots. The slate roof extends and merges with the roof of the neighbouring No. 1 The Square. Eaves are stepped and fitted with out-and-up iron brackets supporting half-round cast-iron guttering discharging to circular section downpipes. The external walls are white painted render set on a plinth painted in a contrasting colour.

The principal elevation faces north-east onto Main Street and is four bays wide at ground floor level, with two bays to the left of the entrance porch and one to the right. The entrance porch sits off-centre on the elevation and has low rendered white painted walls to either side of a vertically sheeted painted timber door with metal door furniture; the porch is covered by a slated hipped roof supported on two white painted rendered cylindrical columns. At first floor there are two window bays, which are not aligned with the ground floor bays. All windows are replacement small-pane timber casements painted in a contrasting colour and incorporating a cottage style expressed within the design of the facade; the original windows have been lost.

The south-west rear elevation is abutted by a large two-storey projecting rear return, centred on the elevation. To either side of this rear return at ground floor level is a double casement window, and at first floor a single casement window, with a tall proportion window to the gable. The rear yard is accessed via a vertically sheeted painted timber door from the north-west side of the rear return.

The rear yard retains an original two-storey white painted rendered outbuilding with a mix of timber sliding sash and casement windows and two vertically sheeted painted timber doors. The outbuilding has a set of concrete steps leading to first floor access and a slated pitched roof. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Cushendun of 1904 indicates that both the porch and the rear outbuilding are original features of the building.

The building has substantial group value with its immediately adjoining neighbours and with the many other buildings of similar style within the village of Cushendun.

The building was constructed prior to 1832 and is contemporary with the laying out of the Antrim Coastal Road (built between 1832 and 1842) and the initial development of Cushendun as a settlement. The village developed during the early 19th century partly as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, which cut off travel across mainland Europe and made Ireland a popular destination for British tourists. New routes and accommodation were developed between Belfast and picturesque coastal sites such as Dunluce Castle and the Giant's Causeway, and previously isolated villages such as Cushendun and Cushendall were transformed into popular seaside resorts. A number of summer houses and bathing lodges were constructed along the coast by city-based professionals and merchants during this period, including the impressive residences of Glenmona Lodge and Glendun Lodge at Cushendun.

No. 4 Main Street was first depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832 as a rectangular-shaped building. Townland Valuation records of 1834 describe it as a 1B+ class building — that is, a slated building of medium age, still in sound order and good repair — measuring 31 feet in width by 14 feet 6 inches in depth and standing 14 feet 6 inches in height, with a total rateable value of £4 and 12 shillings. At that time the building was owned by Edmund McNeill, a local landlord who resided at Cushendun House (now demolished), and was leased to a Mr. Neil McCaughan. The McCaughan family continued in residence under Griffith's Valuation of 1859, by which time the rateable value had risen to £5 and 10 shillings. By around 1864 the property had passed to Daniel McVeigh, a local farmer, whose family remained at the site until the 1920s. The Census of Ireland of 1901 records the house as occupied by Harriett McVeigh, a local laundress, who lived there with her sisters; the census building return described it as a second class dwelling consisting of eight rooms.

The First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland (1936–57) records a Ms. Ellen McKendry as occupant, with the rateable value increased to £10. Ownership passed from the McNeill family to the National Trust in 1954. The McKendry family continued in residence at least until the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), at which point the total rateable value stood at £20.

In 1972 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society's guide to the Glens of Antrim described No. 4 Main Street as "an older four-bay two-storey house with Georgian glazing and a curious porch carried on very solid cylindrical columns." The building was listed in 1980, the same year it was included within the Cushendun Conservation Area, designated to protect and enhance the special qualities of the village.

The building has undergone several periods of alteration. An extensive renovation took place around 1988, though no details were recorded at the time. Further renovation work was carried out in approximately 2011, including roof repairs and window replacement. Although the building has retained its external character overall, the original windows have been lost and some interior historic fabric was removed during these works. Interior details are not described in the available records.