160 & 162 Ballygowan Road, Hillsborough, Co. Down, BT26 6EG

Detached 1½-storey lime-washed former farmhouse, built around 1700, now divided into two dwellings (Nos. 160 and 162). The building is rectangular on plan, facing east on the north side of Ballygowan Road. A single-storey converted byre adjoins the south gable, and a single-storey return extends to the rear at the northern end (serving No. 160). The building was extensively renovated around 1985, with the upper floor subsequently left out of use.

The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles and three rendered chimneystacks topped with black pots. Cast-iron guttering is fixed to iron brackets supporting the projecting eaves course, with cast-iron downpipes. The walls are lime-washed uneven render over rubblestone construction. The front east elevation is six windows wide, featuring square-headed diminutive window openings to the upper floor and camber-headed openings to the ground floor. All windows are replacements: the upper storey has 6-pane side-hung timber casements with exposed sash boxes, whilst the ground floor has 6/6 timber sash windows. Concrete sills are throughout. A cast-iron downpipe to the front elevation marks the division between the two properties.

Camber-headed door openings serve both dwellings: No. 160 is positioned in the northernmost bay, No. 162 in the centre of the southern half. Both doors are replacement vertically-sheeted timber, opening onto concrete steps to the gravel forecourt area. The south gable is abutted by the slightly lower single-storey converted byre, which has no window openings. A vertically-sheeted timber glazed door provides access to this space. The rear elevation is largely covered by the gable-ended single-storey return, which contains no upper-storey windows. Ground-floor replacements here include 6/6 timber sash windows, with some uPVC windows to the return. A recessed porch covers the rear entrance to the return. The north gable is blank. The setting comprises a gravel driveway running south to the road, with some corrugated iron structures and mature trees to the front.

Despite interior alterations and loss of historic detailing, the external appearance remains largely intact, preserving the natural slate roof, cast-iron rainwater goods, render, and timber sash windows. This appears to be one of the last surviving farmer's-and-weaver's cottages on the Downshire's Kilwarlin Estate, possibly originating from the 17th century.

Historical records show the building on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 as a single oblong structure. The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 records a single occupier, John Carvil, though side notes indicate two houses with outbuildings valued at £2 8s 6d. Griffiths Valuation of 1861 increased the value slightly to £2 15s, with the occupier listed as James Gooly, lessee to the Marquis of Downshire. By 1913, the properties were owned by the Gilliland family, long-standing tenants of the Downshire Estate, followed by the Cantley family from 1915 onwards.