24 Lisburn Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AB

An asymmetrical two-bay two-storey end-terrace house built around 1800, located west of Lisburn Street in Hillsborough town centre. The building originally incorporated numbers 20 and 22, forming part of what was then a single property.

The building is square on plan with a full-height return and two-storey extension on the slope to the rear. The pitched roof is clad in natural slate with blue and black angled ridge tiles, and features a rendered chimneystack. Rainwater goods are cast-iron half-round.

The walls are painted smooth render on a plinth with raised quoins at the north corner; the gable and rear elevation are finished in roughcast render. Windows are replacement 6 over 6 timber-framed sliding sash with horns, set in smooth rendered surrounds with projecting masonry sills. The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged, with a window at first floor centre; at ground floor there is a blind entrance to the left and a window to the right of centre. The south elevation is abutted by the adjoining building (number 20-22). The west rear elevation is entirely abutted by the full-height return, which sits on a slope and has two windows to the second floor; a modern timber casement window is positioned at ground and first floor level on the north elevation. The return is itself fully abutted by a two-storey extension with a modern fully-glazed panel window to the first floor; ground floor is concealed. The north elevation of the extension has a modern six-panelled timber door with multi-paned sidelights. The north gable is blank.

The building is situated at the end of the terrace with laned access to the north providing access to a car park and attached garage to the rear. The lane terminates in an early rubble stone wall enclosing a lake on the Hillsborough Castle Estate.

The house was first recorded on a map dating to around 1800, where it is depicted as a single oblong building on the west side of Lisburn Street, originally incorporating numbers 20 and 22. The map shows that the building possessed a large outbuilding extending from the rear. Lisburn Street is the oldest part of Hillsborough and experienced development between around 1800 and 1830, when the majority of buildings on the northern half of the street were constructed. At this time Lisburn Street was known as Great Newport Street, a reference to the construction of the Lagan Canal in the late 18th century. Numbers 20 to 24 Lisburn Street are among the earlier houses, dating from the mid to late 18th century before the later development of the street.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map (1834) and the Townland Valuation map of around 1830 continue to show numbers 20 to 24 as a single property. The Townland Valuations recorded that a Mr Allan Weir occupied the site, valued at £6. Between 1834 and 1858 the large outbuilding at the rear was demolished. The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1858) shows that two returns had been constructed to the rear of numbers 20 and 24 Lisburn Street, one appearing to extend from the rear of number 24.

The single building first appears as three separate properties in the 1861 Griffith's Valuation. At this time a Mr John Mulligan owned all three houses. Number 24 was occupied by a Mr Henry McDowell, who rented from Mulligan at a weekly rent of four shillings. The valuer described the house as a 1a-class two-storey dwelling measuring four and one-third by four yards, with a similar-sized rear return, valued at £8. By 1864 the house was in the possession of Robert Thorton, who resided there until 1882 when it passed to a Mr William McNally. In 1889 number 24 was occupied by Sarah McNally, likely the wife or daughter of William McNally, who vacated in 1890. Following her departure, several occupants briefly resided at the address until a Mr Thomas Baxter came into possession in 1898.

The 1901 Census records that Baxter, aged 45, a retired Presbyterian farmer, resided at the house with his wife Selena, also 45, and their four children. The Census Building Return described number 24 Lisburn Street as a second-class dwelling consisting of five rooms with a stable as its sole outbuilding. By 1911 Baxter and his family operated a grocers' shop from the premises, although this was not recorded on the valuation records. Thomas Baxter remained at the address until 1923 when a Mr Joshua Steele came into possession. Later occupants included Thomas Patterson (1926) and Walter Elliot, who occupied the house from 1927 to at least 1930.

Little change occurred to the site between 1858 and the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map (1919–20). Since the 1966 Ordnance Survey map, a single-storey modern garage has been visible at the rear. Since the First Survey in 1973 the original front door on Lisburn Street has been blocked up and a new entrance opened at the north gable of the two-storey rear return.

The entrance has been relocated to the north gable and a large return and extension added to the rear, significantly altering the original proportions and internal layout. The building forms part of a relatively intact 18th and early 19th-century terrace and makes a contribution to the character of the historic street. Although of interest, the building has been significantly altered and is not considered to meet the criteria for listing.