54 Grove Road, Backnamullagh, Dromore, County Down, BT25 1QX

A detached single-storey vernacular dwelling built circa 1800, set on an east-west axis facing south at the end of a lane off the south side of Grove Road. The house is rectangular on plan and represents a remarkable survivor of the lobby-entry house tradition, retaining most of its original interior layout and detailing.

The building is constructed of rubblestone with lime render over the walls. The pitched roof is covered with corrugated iron laid over the original straw thatch, which retains evidence of cruck blade structure. Two rendered chimneystacks rise through the roof with metal guttering on iron brackets.

The south-facing front elevation is four windows wide, with single-pane timber sash windows set in square-headed openings with concrete sills and exposed sash boxes. A central windbreaker entrance porch is topped by the main roof extending down to protect it. The entrance contains a square-headed door opening with a vertically-sheeted timber door. The front elevation extends westward to incorporate a byre with two square-headed door openings fitted with vertically-sheeted half-doors.

The west gable features steel ties to the roof and a single square-headed window opening with replacement glazing. The rear elevation has irregularly placed diminutive window openings and a pair of square-headed door openings with sheeted timber doors. A lean-to extension with corrugated iron roof was built circa 1940 and abuts the east end. The east gable is abutted by a lower rendered accretion, also with a corrugated iron roof. A diminutive square-headed window opening serves the attic level.

The house retains its original outbuildings: three roofless rubblestone structures stand to the south. The setting includes wrought iron gates on round pillars at each end of the lane approach. An informal front yard is enclosed to the west by low rubblestone walling, to the east by a ruinous rubblestone agricultural building, and to the south by a modern timber dwelling erected circa 1990.

According to historical records, the house first appears on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map as an oblong building with several outbuildings. Neither the house nor its owner was recorded in the Townland Valuation of circa 1830. By 1861, Ms. Mary McCloughan is recorded as occupant in Griffith's Valuation, where the site is listed as comprising two dwellings—the larger valued at £1 15 shillings occupied by McCloughan, and a smaller house valued at £1 let to Ms. Ellen West. McCloughan paid rent of £13 to the Marquis of Downshire. By 1866, the property passed to John McCloughan, then valued at £3 as a single unified holding. The 1901 Census describes the dwelling as a second-class building containing five rooms with a thatched roof. At that time, John McCloughan was a 61-year-old farmer whose outbuildings included stables, a cow house, piggery, fowl house, barn, and potato house. By 1911, his brother James McCloughan had taken over the farm. In 1913, James purchased the farm from the Marquis of Downshire and continued to occupy it until 1929.

The original thatched roof has been covered with corrugated iron, and a lean-to extension was added to the east gable circa 1940. The building is currently in a good state of preservation, though it has long been abandoned as a dwelling. The site is now used as a workshop for the current owner, whilst the former farm buildings have fallen into disrepair. The property is Grade B+ listed, with listing extent covering the house, pillars, gates, walling, and water pump.