1 Downshire Road, (1 Sandy's Place), Newry, Co Down, BT34 1ED

1 Downshire Road (also known as 1 Sandy's Place) in Newry is the right building of a pair of Grade B+ listed structures. It is a two-and-a-half-storey building with a basement, arranged across three bays on the east side of Downshire Road, with two outhouses to the rear.

The main façade faces west towards the street. The walls are constructed of squared granite rubble brought to courses with a projecting eaves course. The pitched roof is natural slate with rendered right verge, one skylight to the front pitch and three to the rear. Rendered chimneys sit at right and left (the latter shared with the adjoining house). Half-round metal gutters and downpipes are shared with the adjacent property.

The principal entrance sits in the central bay and is approached via six granite steps rising to a granite-paved platform over a basement passage. Original spiked iron railings with moulded bases flank the steps (two per step). Wrought iron boot-scrapers sit in the railings on each side of the platform. The front door is painted timber with four coffered and bolection-moulded panels (without beaded muntin) and brass furniture. It is flanked by a pair of three-quarter attached granite Tuscan columns supporting a moulded granite entablature, above which sits a leaded peacock-tailed rectangular fanlight. The door opening has moulded one-piece panelled granite jambs and scrolled brackets supporting a projecting moulded cornice. Over this cornice is a semi-elliptical rendered band, probably covering a brick-relieving arch, with a burglar alarm positioned between. A modern brass nameplate sits to the right of the door.

Throughout the building, all window openings have flat rendered heads, stepped rendered jambs and granite cills. All sash windows have horns unless otherwise stated. The ground floor comprises single 6/6 sliding sash windows in the left and right bays. The basement has a three-panelled timber door with six top glazed panes centred below the front steps. To the left, in line with the ground floor window, is a modern two-pane casement window without a cill. To the right of the door, also in line with the ground floor window, is a 6/3 sliding sash. Both basement windows have metal security grilles. The first floor has three 6/6 sliding sash windows, diminished in height and aligned with the ground floor openings. Below and to the right of the first floor window on the right is a granite plaque with raised lettering reading 'Sandys Place'.

The front garden is separated from the street by a low chamfered dressed granite wall over strap-pointed random rubble, carrying reproduction arrow-headed metal railings. These railings also flank the path to the steps. The left railing along this path has a gate through to concrete steps descending to the basement passage.

The left gable forms a party wall with the adjacent property (no. 2). The right gable faces Corry Park and is smooth rendered with stepped stucco quoins to each edge. It is blank except for two small segmental-headed 1/1 sliding sashes at attic level. The wall continues (cement coped) to enclose the yard; at the left is an opening to the yard with an original wrought-iron gate detailed as the front railing. The yard wall continues along the side wall of the outhouse.

The rear elevation is constructed of random rubble brought to courses with a raised eaves course. A passage runs across the front of the basement. The basement windows throughout are without horns unless otherwise stated. At the centre of the basement is a partially glazed modern door to the external basement passage. Immediately to its left is a small modern 1/1 top-hung window serving a toilet. To the left and right bays are single 8/4 sliding sashes (the left one with horns, both with metal security grilles). Above the door, between basement and ground floor, is a semicircular opening containing a multi-paned glazed door onto a concrete balcony over the passage, from which concrete stairs with metal handrails lead down to the garden. At ground floor left is a wide tripartite window comprising a 6/6 sliding sash flanked on both sides by 2/2 windows. At ground floor right is a 6/6 sliding sash. Between ground and first floor at centre is a semicircular-headed 1/1 sliding sash with stained glass. Immediately to its right, level with its cill, is a small infilled opening with a two-centred head, rendered surround and granite cill. The first floor has single 6/6 sliding sashes at left and right. On the half landing between first floor and attic is a 3/3 spoke-headed sash at centre.

Outhouse 1 is positioned on the boundary wall with the adjoining property (no. 2) in the rear garden. It is a double-height single-storey structure with a pitched natural slate roof, divided longitudinally down the ridge by the boundary wall, each property owning half the complete building. The walls are constructed of rubble granite brought to courses. All openings have stepped render trim. The gable facing the rear of the house has a painted timber tongue-and-groove sheeted door set. The north wall is shared with no. 2. The gable to the back of the premises has a tongue-and-groove painted timber door at the left. The south wall has one tongue-and-groove timber door at centre, with 2/2 sliding sash windows with horns to the left and right.

Outhouse 2, at the south-east corner of the premises, is a two-storey structure now converted to an office. It has a hipped natural slate roof with half-round metal gutters and random rubble walls with raised eaves. All openings have flat rendered heads, stepped rendered jambs, and windows have concrete cills unless otherwise stated. The south elevation, forming the boundary to Corry Park, is blank except for two 6/6 sash windows at first floor. The gable facing east onto the back access lane has a 6/9 sliding sash window centred to ground floor and a 6/6 sash at first floor. The north elevation, facing into the yard, has modern painted timber four-panel doors at both ground and first floor centre (the latter accessed by metal stairs and balcony), with two small vertically divided 2/2 sliding sashes to the left of each. The west gable facing the rear of the house has a 6/6 sliding sash centred to each floor. The east gable continues as a high coped granite rubble wall enclosing the back of the premises. A shallow segmental-headed arch with dressed jambs and voussoirs (with raised keystone) at the right now contains a pair of reproduction arrow-headed metal gates identical in design to those at the front. An identical opening adjoins the back of no. 2. In the spandrel between the two arches is a finely dressed rectangular granite plaque with raised capitals reading 'F.W 1837'.