23 Mullaghcarton Road, Ballinderry Upper, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 2NP

A 1½ storey three-bay mid-nineteenth-century direct-entry vernacular farmhouse located on Mullaghcarton Road, approximately 1.5 miles northeast of Maghaberry town and adjacent to HMP Maghaberry.

The dwelling likely dates to around 1830, though this cannot be confirmed due to gaps in the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832–33). By 1858, the second edition Ordnance Survey map clearly depicts an oblong building on the site, positioned northwest of a limestone quarry. A single-storey outbuilding abutting the right gable had been constructed by this date. An L-shaped outbuilding shown to the east was demolished sometime after 1920.

The building is a good example of linear development, with a series of adjoining outbuildings arranged on axis. Its external appearance is largely due to early twentieth-century modifications, which were typical of this building type once common to the area but now increasingly rare. The principal southwest-facing elevation is formally asymmetrical. A flat-roofed entrance porch abuts to the right of centre, with a single window to the right and two windows to the left. Diminished windows on the first floor sit directly above the ground floor openings. The left gable faces directly onto the road. Above the apex runs a chimney, flanked by two attic windows. The rear elevation is similarly asymmetrical, with a flat-roofed porch abutting left of centre, a single window to the left, and two windows to the right. Three diminished six-pane fixed lights light the upper floor above ground floor openings, with an exception to the far right bay.

The pitched natural slate roof features clay ridge tiles and Victorian polychrome brick chimneys. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present. The walling is cement rendered and unpainted. Windows comprise 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with horizontal glazing bars, some timber casements, and 6-pane half sash fixed lights to the upper floor. Concrete cills and plain surrounds are employed throughout. A wide timber front door in 1930s style and a timber-sheeted rear door provide access.

The adjoining single-storey outbuildings have pitched natural slate roofing on sawn timber trusses and rafters, rough-cast render, timber-sheeted doors, and steel-framed windows. A small lean-to bay extends from the far left.

Internally, some historic fabric is retained, though modification of fireplaces and layout has diminished the overall interest. The dwelling may represent a purpose-built 1½ storey of a unique type, or the rear entrance as it currently exists may once have been the front entrance, directly addressing the yard before the elevation was formalised.

In 1859, this dwelling was let by the Marquis of Hertford to William Clark. The property at that time encompassed the house and the nearby limestone quarry and kilns, valued at £2 10 shillings. Clark rented a smaller dwelling—either the adjoining office or the eastern outbuilding—to tenants between 1859 and 1928, valued at 10 shillings. Between 1863 and 1865, Clark added a small addition to the dwelling house measuring 7 feet by 5 feet and a small new office, though it is unclear which current outbuilding this refers to. Clark remained at the site until his death around 1870, when the property passed to Thomas Clarke, an unrelated individual who purchased it outright and occupied it until at least 1901. The 1901 Census records Thomas Clarke as an 80-year-old retired farmer living with his 75-year-old wife Christina and his 35-year-old son John. The census building return described the structure as a second-class dwelling containing five rooms with a slate roof. Clarke possessed a stable, cow house, piggery, barn, and fowl house, accommodated in either the adjoining office or the eastern outbuilding. Thomas Clarke died between 1901 and 1911, leaving the farmhouse to his son John, who occupied it until his death in 1930. The property then passed to his nephew Thomas Culbert.

The northwest gable faces directly onto the road, adjacent to various modern two-storey dwellings. Abutting the southwest elevation is a low-rise wall surmounted by mild steel railing, with a matching gate fixed to squared piers. A yard lies to the rear, containing a large modern agricultural unit and mobile home. Open rural landscape extends to the southeast and west, with a quarry to the south. The farmhouse currently lies vacant and has fallen into a state of disrepair.