Blundell House, 12 The Square, Hillsborough, Co. Down, BT26 6AG

Blundell House is a mid-terraced three-bay townhouse built around 1780 as part of a terrace of three similar houses lining the north side of The Square in Hillsborough. It is a three-storey building over basement, constructed in handmade redbrick laid in Flemish bond with a pitched natural slate roof and shared brick chimneystacks to either end.

The front elevation faces south and shows three bays with square-headed window openings topped by rubbered brick flat-arches. The original timber sash windows with cylinder glass and no horns remain in place, along with painted masonry sills. The principal entrance comprises a round-headed door opening to the left bay, set within a painted doorcase with moulded pilasters rising from plinth blocks to impost mouldings, archivolt and keystone. The door is a replacement timber panelled door with timber transom and replacement fanlight. It opens onto granite steps to a concrete paved platform extending to the central bay with five granite steps. The basement area and steps to the east are enclosed by decorative wrought-iron railing. Evidence of a former central square-headed door opening, now replaced by a window, is visible on the elevation. The plinth course is rendered and painted, extended to basement level. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets runs along projecting brick eaves course, with cast-iron downpipe.

The west side elevation is abutted by the neighbouring No. 11, while the east side is abutted by No. 13. The north rear elevation is redbrick with an irregular arrangement of window openings including segmental-headed brick openings and various timber sash windows. A lean-to return to the east carries a modern conservatory built in 1993. The setting includes a landscaped rear garden to the north enclosed by rubblestone and brick walling, and a modern garage at the north boundary accessed from Main Street.

The house was named 'Blundell House' by Lord Arthur Hill in the nineteenth century. A letter dated February 1779 from Lord Downshire's agent John Gardner references "four houses to be built in the square", one of which has its entrance on Main Street. An estate map of 1788 shows the house as a plain rectangle, and by around 1800 it was occupied by a resident named Parker. The Townland Valuation of 1828-40 listed it as the residence of Miss McLean and Miss Parker, with house, offices and yard valued at £10.10s. In Griffith's Valuation of 1856-64 it was occupied by Moses Buchanan, a sewing agent leasing from Eliza Wilson. Contemporary records describe the house as dilapidated and "in very bad order, part of it scarcely habited". The valuation was reduced to £8 by 1864. Following Moses Buchanan's death in 1882, his widow Margaret took over, with the Marquess of Downshire becoming immediate lessor in 1889. By 1895 Sarah Sands was in residence, followed by James Sands by 1903, likely relatives of architect William Sands who lived in the neighbouring house until 1881. Later occupiers included George J McCreedy in 1908 and John H Harshaw in 1929. Between 1969 and 1975 the house was occupied by Harvey Bicker, a businessman and Fianna Fail politician, and subsequently by Robin Eyre-Maunsell, a rally and racing driver. The house was listed in 1976.

Despite some replacement of original internal fabric, the house retains most of its external features including original timber sash windows with cylinder glass, the nineteenth-century doorcase with original steps and ironmongery. The eastern chimney stack is redbrick with clay pots, while the western stack is replacement brown brick from around 1980. The overall composition remains intact and forms part of an impressive Georgian terrace that plays an important role in the setting of both the former Market House and Hillsborough Castle. The extent of listing includes the house, steps, railings and yard walling.