3 High St, Cushendall, Co.Antrim

No. 3 High Street is a terraced, two-bay, three-storey rendered house built around 1830, situated on the north side of High Street in Cushendall village, County Antrim. It sits between No. 1 High Street and No. 5 High Street, directly opposite the Curfew Tower at the central crossroads of the village. The building forms part of a continuous terrace of houses lining the northeast side of High Street, constructed on a steep gradient.

The house is rectangular on plan, facing southwest, with a two-storey extension to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in artificial slate with terracotta ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack at either end, served by replacement steel rainwater goods. The external walls are finished in painted textured cement render. All window openings are square-headed with concrete sills and are fitted with replacement multi-pane sliding timber sash windows with ogee horns and exposed sash boxes. The two-bay, three-storey front elevation has a square-headed door opening to the right, fitted with a replacement hardwood glazed door, and paired sliding timber sash windows to the left. The first floor carries a pair of 6-over-6 timber sliding sash windows, while the second floor has diminished 3-over-3 windows glazed above, with similar detailing. The northwest side elevation abuts No. 5 High Street, and the southeast side abuts No. 2 Shore Street, a commercial corner building. The rear elevation is largely obscured by the two-storey cement rendered extension, though a partially visible slate-hung attic dormer window and replacement timber casement windows can be seen.

Although historic elements such as the original windows and front door have been replaced, the building retains its original openings. The rear extension was constructed during a refurbishment carried out around 1987.

The house has considerable group value as an integral component of the stepped terrace climbing High Street. The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society publication of 1972 described High Street as "an outstandingly attractive street, of quite exceptional merit and character," and referred to Nos. 3–5 High Street specifically as "plain rendered houses." High Street and its buildings were included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975 — only the second conservation area to be designated in Northern Ireland — and in that same year Cushendall was selected as one of four pilot schemes for conservation during the European Architectural Heritage Year. No. 3 High Street was listed in 1976.

The house was built as part of the planned development of Cushendall carried out in the early 19th century by the landowning Turnly family. Francis Turnly, the village's proprietor, had travelled to China in 1796 where he amassed a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 he used this wealth 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 handful of cabins, a mill, and a bridge. Turnly — described by architectural historian Brett as an eccentric who "effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property" — developed it into a coastal resort, capitalising on the growing tourist trade passing through on the way to the Giant's Causeway. Hotels such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street and numerous commercial properties were erected as part of this expansion. Most buildings along High Street date from the first half of the 19th century and are attributed to this Turnly-era development.

No. 3 High Street is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records the property as initially valued at £5 and 10 shillings, leased by a Mr. John Hamilton, and co-inhabited during the 1850s by Daniel McKillop, William Todd, and Francis Brooke. The Annual Revisions indicate these occupants remained until around 1875, when the house passed to a Mr. Daniel McAuley. Occupancy continued to change frequently over the following decades. The 1911 Census of Ireland records the house as inhabited by Daniel McMullen, a local tailor. The accompanying census building return classified it as a second-class dwelling with three inhabited rooms and a range of outbuildings including a stable, piggery, fowl house, and workshop. The McMullen family occupied the house until at least the 1970s and operated a shop from the ground floor throughout much of that period. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) raised the property's value to £10, still recording Daniel McMullen as occupant. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72) the value stood at £21. The McMullen family purchased the site outright from the Turnly estate in 1967.