Millbrook House, 21 Gransha Road, Lisleen, Comber, NEWTOWNARDS, County Down, BT23 5QA

Millbrook House is a symmetrical one-and-a-half storey three-bay detached Georgian-style farmhouse with outbuildings, built around 1860. It abuts an earlier single-storey dwelling to the rear that predates the 1830s. The house stands in a rural setting surrounded by farmland, south of Gransha Road in the borough of Castlereagh, County Down.

The main house has a rectangular plan with a single-storey extension under a sloping roof to the rear. It is roofed in natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and painted render chimneystacks carrying three terracotta pots. The walling is ruled-and-lined painted render with raised quoins and plinth. Plastic rainwater goods run throughout. Windows are replacement three-over-nine timber casements set in moulded architraves with raised keyblocks and projecting masonry sills.

The principal elevation faces north, featuring a central doorway flanked by two windows. The doorway is an original six-panelled timber door surmounted by a cast-iron spider web fanlight in a round-headed surround with keyblock and pilasters, accessed by a single masonry step. The east elevation has a replacement timber casement window at the left. The south (rear) elevation is abutted to the left by the single-storey former dwelling and to the right by the single-storey extension, which contains a replacement timber-sheeted door at the left and a narrow timber casement at the right; its east elevation has a single timber casement window. The west elevation has a timber casement window at attic level to the right and another at ground floor to the far right.

The earlier single-storey dwelling to the rear predates 1830 and was originally thatched. The roofline was raised around 1920 when the thatch was replaced with slate. It has a pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and a single replacement yellow-brick chimneystack to the right, dating to the 1920s. Walling is ruled-and-lined painted render with plastic rainwater goods throughout and replacement timber-framed casement windows. The dwelling is asymmetrically arranged with a replacement timber-sheeted door to the left of centre, a window to the left and a larger window to the right. An additional bay to the right contains a window and is partially abutted to the east by the single-storey extension. The south gable is blank. The west elevation has windows at the left and right.

The setting comprises a mature lawned and shrubbed garden to the front with a central pathway leading to the front entrance. A tarmacadamed entrance to the northeast leads to the rear yard. To the east of the house is a free-standing slated lean-to; to the west is a roughcast-rendered single-storey barn. To the south of the yard stands a one-and-a-half storey barn abutted by a single-storey stable block, both with timber-sheeted doors and cast-iron strap hinges. Further south are two large agricultural barns with a central yard. At the far south of the site are the walls of a single-span rubble stone bridge, no longer in use, which likely predates the original circa 1830s house and provided access to it. Agricultural land to the east of the house has a roughcast rendered boundary wall and is accessed from the rear yard via an original wrought-iron farm gate.

Many of the main architectural components remain intact, however replacement fenestration, replacement rainwater goods, and a largely modern interior throughout have removed much of the special architectural interest of the building.

The house has significant historical importance. Records indicate the land was first occupied in 1748 by James Orr and Robert McCurry, comprising 77 acres. By 1849, John Porter occupied the house, offices, and flax mill on 27 acres, valued at £8 18s. The current house first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, when William Miskelly leased the flax mills, offices, and over 57 acres from W Mussenden Esq. The holding included a water mill comprising five stocks, operational six months per year for twelve hours daily, and a windmill approximately 200 yards south of the house. In the late 1860s, John Miskelly, William's son, was assigned the flax mill with offices and land, valued at £21 by 1870. By 1876 the flax mill had fallen idle, and by 1879 the house had been separated from the mill for valuation purposes, valued at £7. By 1887 the mill was recorded as dilapidated and subsequently converted to a corn mill. Milling ceased in the early 1930s. In 1900, Alexander Johnston, a farmer, occupied the house with his wife, adult son, and farm servant. The 1901–1902 Ordnance Survey map shows the house captioned "Millbrook House" for the first time. The 1911 census records the house as having four windows and nine rooms with numerous outbuildings including a stable, cow house, fowl house, barn, and potato house. Owner information suggests renovations were carried out around 1908–1912, when the earlier house was incorporated into one dwelling. The rear return was thatched until around 1920 when the roofline was raised to accommodate a new slate roof. By 1950 the house had electricity and running water. Major external repairs were undertaken during the 1980s.