Winter Hill, 18 Mullaghdrin Road, Dromara, Dromore, County Down, BT25 2AF

Winter Hill is a single and two-storey rubble stone farmhouse with outbuildings, built around 1830, located on an elevated site down a long private lane on the outskirts of Dromara in the townland of Moydalgan. The form of the house suggests it may have originated as a single-storey dwelling that was later partially raised and slated.

The house is rectangular on plan with a porch to the east. It has a pitched natural slate roof with blue and black angled ridge tiles and brick chimneys. The walling is rubble stone with vestiges of limewash and lime render. Windows are 2/2 exposed-box timber-framed sliding sashes with horizontal glazing bars. The main elevation faces east, with the right bay abutted by a deep gabled porch featuring a timber-sheeted entrance door with replacement handle and tiled step. The south wall of the porch has a single timber casement window, and a water pump is positioned on the north wall. To the left of the main elevation are windows on the first and ground floors. The south elevation is abutted at ground floor level by a gabled extension with a window to the east. The west elevation has two windows on each floor. The north elevation is abutted by a single-storey extension with windows to the east and west elevations. This extension is itself abutted to the north by a slated outbuilding with thatch under tin.

A variety of rubble stone outbuildings, most with corrugated tin roofs, are arranged in a U-shape in front of the house, creating a central yard. The oversized porch is unusual for this type of dwelling and adds to its character.

The farmhouse first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 as an oblong building with two small square outbuildings to its north-east. By the Griffith's Valuation of 1861, the farmhouse and offices were valued at £1 5 shillings and let by William McKay from the Marquis of Downshire. An oblong outbuilding to the north-west was constructed by around 1901. The two small north-east offices from 1834 were replaced with or incorporated into a replacement L-shaped farmbuilding sometime after 1920. The house was vacated by its owners around 1970 when a replacement single-storey dwelling was constructed to the east. The farmhouse is now used as storage by its current owners. The north-west outbuilding first recorded in 1901 has been demolished; a portion of the north-east outbuilding roof has been replaced with corrugated tin; and the original thatched roof of the north extension survives but is now covered with a corrugated roof. Field research suggests the entrance porch dates from the original construction around 1830, an unusual feature for structures of this period.

The site is elevated, overlooking farmland in all directions. Access is via a long single-track lane from the main road, with a wrought-iron farm gate to the north leading to the yard. A kitchen garden to the south is enclosed by a mature hedgerow and trees. A modern garage stands to the east.

Winter Hill is a good example of an increasingly rare type of vernacular farmhouse with a largely unspoiled setting and significant heritage value to Dromara.