6 Arthur Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AP

6 Arthur Street is a Grade B2 listed house, a mid-terrace single-storey dwelling with attic, built in the late 1820s as part of a terrace of 23 similar workers' cottages constructed on the Downshire Estate in Hillsborough. The house forms part of a cul-de-sac on the east side of Ballynahinch Street.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing west. It has a pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles, two gabled dormers, and a single shared redbrick chimneystack with terracotta pots (shared with the adjoining No. 8). The walling is of rubble basalt, characteristic of the earliest houses in the terrace. The original dressed stone archway and stone hood mouldings survive, though these are now cement rendered. Window and door openings have been given replacement redbrick surrounds with concrete sills. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets runs beneath the eaves.

The front (east) elevation contains a single window opening and a door opening. Both the front elevation windows and the dormer windows are replacement fixed-pane bipartite timber windows with applied lead glazing. The door opening is fitted with a timber sheeted replacement door. A voussoired granite arch fronts the passageway to the north gable, which this house claims ownership of and which provides access to the rear; the arch is partly of sandstone moulding, with the passageway itself concrete paved and the north wall rendered brick.

The south side elevation is abutted by No. 8, and the north side elevation is abutted by No. 4. The rear (west) elevation is abutted by an extension.

Historically, the earliest houses in the terrace, including this one, were built by the late 1820s as low-cost housing for workers on the Downshire estate. Field inspection suggests the terrace was built in at least three phases: the earlier houses, including No. 6, used random rubble masonry with granite for mouldings and arched alleyways, whilst later additions employed squared rubble or more regularly cut stone. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows the terrace already partly in place; the second edition of 1858 confirms it was complete by that date. All houses were originally built with yards to the rear, pit toilets, and coal storage beneath the stairs.

In Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, this house was occupied by Richard Duncan, leased from the Marquess of Downshire. It was valued as a house and yard at £2 15 shillings, with a weekly rent of one shilling and fourpence plus taxes. The valuer noted that rents on the street were "moderate". The house was valued slightly higher than its neighbour on account of its ownership of the passageway.

The building was listed in 1974. In 1982, renovations were carried out including replacement of the dormer window. A Velux roof light was added to the rear in 1989. Despite the loss of original doors, windows, and various internal materials replaced during recent renovations, the house retains its original modest proportions and constitutes an important part of the character of Arthur Street. It sits within a conservation area.