87 Main Street, Moira, Craigavon, Co. Armagh, BT67 0LH

A two-storey five-bay Georgian townhouse built circa 1735, located at the northeast end of Main Street in Moira. The building retains its original Georgian style and proportions, though it has undergone early 19th-century alterations and modern changes. It forms part of a significant historic terrace of townhouses (numbers 77 to 101 Main Street) that dominate this section of the street and possess considerable group value.

The building is rectangular in plan with a large modern rear mono-pitched one-and-a-half-storey extension. The principal north-facing elevation is symmetrically arranged with a centrally located entrance flanked by two ground-floor windows, and five uniformly spaced windows at first-floor level. The roofing comprises pitched natural slate with clay ridge tile extending with coping stones over the gable end. A brick chimney stack is located at the gable end, centrally serving the left-hand bays and finished with paired clay pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods with semi-circular gutter and circular downpipe painted black serve the main building, with uPVC downpipes to the rear extension.

The walling is rendered with natural-finished roughcast on a smooth rendered plinth. Quoins, window and door surrounds, and banding are finished in smooth render and painted off-white. The gable end features ruled-and-lined render also painted off-white. The modern rear extension has a wet-dash natural finish.

The windows are single-glazed, 6/6 Georgian timber sliding box sash windows with horns, painted white. They have large rectangular stone cills with decorative profile and smooth render surrounds with banding at cill level at both ground and first floors. Modern single-glazed timber sash windows serve the rear. The principal entrance is a six-panelled timber door with a half-circle arched fanlight over, flanked by stucco pilasters with moulded cornice details and key block. The door is painted black with brass ironmongery and lion head moulding, accessed by three curved stone steps. Modern timber doors provide access to the rear.

The left gable end faces east and abuts building number 89 Main Street. The right elevation is a partial gable end where the adjoining building is set back from the building line. The rear elevation faces south and comprises the modern extension of little historic or architectural interest. Large illuminated side-hung and fascia signage is fixed to the front façade. The building faces directly onto the principal road through Moira with direct entrance off the footpath. A large yard to the rear is enclosed by modern timber fencing and accessed via a coach entrance at number 95 Main Street.

Internally, the building has lost most of its original fabric, though it retains its special character externally and makes a positive contribution to the terrace and the heritage of Main Street.

The building was constructed during the early development of Moira in the early 18th century, credited to the Rawdon family. This development marked a significant change in the village's built stock from agricultural buildings to two long terraces of basalt stone and brick buildings lining the street. In 1744, Harris described Moira as a "well laid out and thriving village consisting of one broad street inhabited by many traders many of whom carry on linen manufacture to good advantage". The earliest Ordnance Survey maps from 1833 clearly show number 87 Main Street with formal gardens to the rear, a feature predominant to the town. The terrace was originally identified as a continuous row running from the Courthouse to St Johns Parish. By the Ordnance Survey map of 1858, the building is shown with a return to the rear, and the adjacent site to the west is recorded as vacant.

The Griffiths Valuation of 1864 records the building as unoccupied. The first long-term tenant is recorded in 1878, when Thomas H. Browning took occupation. The Cherry family occupied the property from 1893 to 1916, followed by the Grant family from 1916 onwards. The Revised Valuation Binders for 1933 to 1957 record the house as occupied by 'Nannie' Grant, and a recorder noted in 1938 that it was a "Very old house in fair repair with no modern conveniences. Low rent." There are no apparent records from that time until the present day, though local informants indicate that the building, like many adjacent properties, lay vacant for several years before undergoing restoration around 1990 to become a commercial property.

The building is situated within a conservation area.