16 Main Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AE

Number 16 Main Street is a mid-terrace two-storey house over basement, rendered in the early nineteenth century. It sits on the east side of Main Street in Hillsborough on a sloping site, adjacent to number 18. The building is rectangular on plan, facing west, with a two-storey flat-roofed return at the rear. It features a pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and three brick chimneystacks with clay and terracotta pots, the end stacks shared with adjoining properties. Cast-iron rainwater goods run the length of the building.

The external walls are painted with ruled and lined rendered finish, with rusticated render quoins at either end. The front elevation is four windows wide, with replacement 6/6 timber sash windows in square-headed openings with painted masonry sills. A three-centred carriage arch occupies the northernmost bay, with timber sheeted soffit and a modern steel gate. To the right of the arch is a symmetrically arranged pair of shop display windows, each with replacement tripartite fixed-pane arched lights and a central round-headed door opening. The doors have deep moulded render surrounds and replacement timber panelled doors with bipartite overlights. Each door opens onto two replacement stone steps to the street.

The north side elevation is abutted by number 14 Main Street. The rear elevation is abutted by a flat-roofed two-storey return, possibly incorporating the original return, with the carriage arch bay recessed behind it. The rear elevation has replacement timber sash windows and replacement timber panelled doors, with a canted bay to the re-entrant angle.

The building forms part of the terrace of houses lining the west side of Main Street. The carriage arch leads to a pair of modern houses at 6–7 Church Lane.

Number 16 Main Street was constructed between 1800 and 1819. It appears on the first Ordnance Survey map of 1833, having been built on the site of old wasteground depicted on a circa 1800 map of Hillsborough. It was therefore one of the later houses constructed on Main Street. The contemporary Townland Valuation map shows the building as rectangular, situated halfway up the terrace on the east side of Main Street, with a small square out office since demolished to the rear of the yard.

In the 1830s, the house was occupied by Mr Arthur Scandrett and valued at ten pounds ten shillings. By 1861, the Marquis of Downshire let the house to Mr Thomas Ingram at a rent of nineteen pounds per annum. The house was described as a 1B+ class dwelling measuring ten yards by seven yards and two storeys high with a basement level, valued at sixteen pounds ten shillings. The occupant records note that Thomas Ingram was a boot and shoe maker, as were his sons George and James.

Between 1864 and 1879, the house was converted into a post office in which George Ingram worked as postmaster. Following George Ingram's death in 1885, his widow Margaret Ingram took possession. In 1896, the post office was relocated to number 19 Main Street, and Mr Henry Bell replaced Margaret Ingram as occupant of number 16. The 1901 census records Henry Bell (28), a Presbyterian merchant, living at number 16 with his widowed mother Anne Bell (59). The building return recorded it as a first-class dwelling consisting of eleven rooms with four out offices including a stable. By 1911, Henry Bell was working as a bread server and lived at number 16 with his wife Mary (33) and young son; the rear out office was then used as a stable and storeroom. Bell occupied the house until 1909; a Mr Frederick K. Reynolds resided there from 1915 until 1930.

The building was used as an antiques shop in 1974. Contemporary architectural historian C. E. B. Brett described the building as a two-storey four-bay stucco house with a round-headed doorcase and Georgian glazing, though he noted that its façade had been recently damaged by a runaway lorry; this damage was subsequently repaired. The house was listed in 1976. It was extensively renovated in 1985, although few original features now remain in the interior.

By 2001, the building was used as a solicitor's office, but in 2002 it was converted into a hair and beauty salon. An apartment extension was added to the rear return in 2002, and a separate dwelling was built at the rear of the yard. The ground floor openings were altered during the twentieth century, and internal fabric was removed during subsequent renovations. Despite these changes, the house retains its overall architectural and historic interest as a significant building in Hillsborough, contributing to the historic character of Main Street.