17 Lower Clay Road, Clay, Killinchy, Co. Down, BT30 9PL

This is a small, vernacular house, likely renovated around 1890 and retaining its original external character. It is situated on a rise on the north side of Lower Clay Road, approximately 2.5 miles south of Killinchy.

The front (east) façade features a centrally located panelled door with semicircular arch heads to the panels, and a fanlight above. To the left of the door is a sash window with horizontal glazing bars; most of the house’s windows have a similar frame style. Two further windows are positioned to the right of the door. A small, gabled outbuilding is attached to the south gable, displaying natural slates on its roof, a rough cast façade, a timber-sheeted door on the east side, and another on the west. The north gable has a small upper-level window with a plain sash frame. The rear of the house includes a centrally placed door, typical of a ‘direct entry’ vernacular layout, and three smaller windows to the left, mirroring those on the front façade. A similar window is located to the right of the doorway. The façade is finished in rough cast and whitewashed on all sides, except for the south gable. The gabled roof is covered in natural slate and punctuated by three yellow brick chimney stacks. Cast iron rainwater goods are present. A wrought iron garden gate, displaying a design common to the area, is located in the northeast corner of the house, while larger gates provide access to the vehicle entrance from the roadside. A simpler wrought iron gate is situated on the east side of the outbuilding to the south. Further single-storey outbuildings, primarily rubble-built with sandstone quoins, are situated north of the main house.

A house is depicted on this site on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834, likely representing the present building. Valuation records from 1837 identify the property’s owner as James McKinlen—though the valuer’s handwriting is unclear, he may have been attempting to write ‘McCandless’. The house was occupied in 1861 by John McCandless, who leased it from Robert Heron of Ardigon House near Killyleagh. The yellow brick chimneys and horizontally glazed sash windows suggest a renovation undertaken in the late 1800s or early 20th century.