15 Main Street, Armoy, Ballymoney, County Antrim, BT53 8RF

A large two-storey terrace house and shop standing on the north side of Main Street in Armoy, with its front elevation facing south. The building was originally constructed around 1840, though its enlarged present form dates from 1996, when part of the adjacent property to the west was annexed to create a larger shop unit.

The front elevation is finished in painted lined render. To the right of centre is the house doorway, comprising a panelled timber door with a plain rectangular fanlight set within a moulded surround with keystone. To the left of the doorway is a large shop front with modern period features and corporate signage, topped by a panelled timber door. A post box is set within the shop front, dating from before the 1996 enlargement. To the right of the doorway is a window with horned double sash frame and plate glass, with a surround similar to the doorway. The first floor has three similar windows and a single sash window. Between the second and third windows is a curious projecting figure of a lion.

The building comprises a main central section with two long two-storey returns to the rear. The eastern return is taller than the western, and abuts the wall of the neighbouring property. A single-storey lean-to extension with a large modern-framed window extends from the north-facing gable. The first floor of this gable has a small narrow window with modern timber frame.

The western return has three uniform windows at ground floor level with timber sash frames matching the front elevation, and two windows with modern frames at first floor. Where this return meets the main section there is a full-height bevel; a doorway with a recent part-glazed door is positioned at ground floor level, with a modern-framed window above. The western return is finished in plain painted render.

The eastern return appears to have been extended westward with a lower flat-roofed section finished in dry dash and devoid of openings. At ground floor the eastern face has two windows with horned timber sash frames (two panes over two), with two similar but squatter windows at first floor. The eastern face is finished in painted render at ground floor level with the upper floor painted. A window with modern frame is positioned on the right-hand side of the rear façade of the main section.

The gabled roof of the main section is slated and carries two large rendered chimneystacks. The western return's gabled roof is also slated and has at least one cast-iron skylight to the east side. The lean-to roof is slated. The rainwater goods comprise a mixture of cast-iron and PVCu.

The site is shown as developed on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The first valuation of 1834 suggests only single-storey buildings existed at that date, making it probable that the present two-storey structure had not yet been built. By the second valuation of 1859, a two-storey house was recorded in position with dimensions of 11 yards by 8 by 2½ storeys, matching the present building before its 1996 alteration. The valuer graded it '1B+', suggesting construction shortly after 1834, possibly among the new houses 'lately built' mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of September 1835. Notably, the dimensions exactly match those recorded for the adjacent house to the west (now No. 17, also altered in 1996), suggesting both were built at the same time.

In 1859 the occupant was Melinda McCloy, with James Smyth as immediate lessor. By 1864 Alexander McCloy was leasing to Thomas Wilson, whose family remained until at least 1930. From at least 1956 the freehold was held by G. Smyth, who was also resident. In 1959 the building was sold to Jean (or Jeannie) Cusick, with whose relation it remains. A survey of September 1972 noted the property already had a shop front, functioning as the local post office and grocers, though the valuations give no indication of when this shop front appeared. Map evidence suggests both returns date from the early 1900s. The building retained its original double-fronted form until 1996, when most of the eastern half of No. 17 was amalgamated with the property to create the large shop unit visible today.