Glebe House, 24 Glebe Road, Annahilt, Hillsborough, Co.Down, BT26 6NE

Glebe House is a detached former rectory built around 1790, comprising a two-bay two-storey block over a basement with an attic storey, and single-storey over basement wings to either gable end. The building is constructed of wet dash rendered walling with a rubble basalt canted stair bay to the rear. It is set back from Glebe Road on the west side, accessed by a long winding avenue through mature landscaped grounds.

The main elevation faces east and is four windows wide, with symmetrical composition typical of Georgian proportions. The front entrance, approached by steps to a gravel forecourt, is contained within a lean-to porch with modern timber door and sidelights, recessed into the south wing. The south and north wings are each terminated by slightly advanced single-bay projections with blind arched recesses to the lower level; the south wing features a dropped window. A cast-iron railing encloses the walled basement area to the central block.

The roof is pitched with natural slate and black clay ridge tiles, hipped to the stair bay and wings. Large rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots rise from either gable end. A pair of segmental-headed lead-lined dormer windows with timber casement sashes punctuate the front pitch. Square-headed window openings throughout carry painted masonry sills; most windows are replacement 6/6 top-hung timber casements. Replacement moulded metal guttering sits above a timber box fascia with square-profile downpipes.

The west rear elevation features a full-height rubble stone three-sided canted stair bay with hipped roof. Window openings within the staircase bay are formed in redbrick and include a lunette opening to the attic, a round-headed window with 3/6 timber sash and incorporated fanlight at the centre, and an oculus opening to the basement. A lean-to corridor with timber casement windows and glazed timber door extends from the north wing to the stair bay, opening onto a paved rear courtyard. To the rear of the south wing stands an L-plan range of wet dash rendered single-storey outbuildings with natural slate roofs, timber casement windows and sheeted or glazed timber doors.

Historical records confirm that the rectory was built in 1790 and 1791 by the Reverend John Dubourdieu, incumbent from 1789 to 1817, at an expense of nearly £1200. Dubourdieu also improved the glebe lands through draining, ditching and planting. The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, uncaptioned, showing the principal dwelling with an L-shaped outbuilding to the rear. By the 1859 edition, it is captioned as Glebe House and had substantially expanded to the southwest, enclosing a central courtyard. Griffiths Valuation of 1861 records the occupier as the Reverend William Henry Pilcher, valued at £28. The building remained in the possession of the Church of Ireland, serving successive incumbent rectors, until it was sold after the Second World War.

After lying derelict for many years, the house was extensively renovated during the 1970s and again around 1998 by the current owner, during which most of the original fabric was replaced. The general composition and Georgian proportions have been retained. The building has group value with the listed Annahilt Church of Ireland situated directly opposite the original entrance location on Glebe Road, which was presumably altered for road safety reasons.