22 Belfast Road, Ballynahinch, Co Down, BT24 8DZ

22 Belfast Road, Ballynahinch

A substantial two-storey gabled house dating from the 1880s-90s, located on a rise to the west of Belfast Road, north of Ballynahinch town centre. The house is finished in lined render and painted, with moulded in and out quoins to the front and a projecting base. The slated gabled roof has a slight overhang with shaped barges. Two rendered chimney stacks project from the roof.

The front (east) façade is symmetrical. At the centre is a panelled and glazed door with Doric three-quarter column jambs, entablature, and segmental fanlight. The entire ensemble sits within a recessed frame encased with moulded pilasters and an architrave with keystone and scrolls. Splayed steps lead to the doorway. Flanking the entrance on both left and right are single-storey canted bays with flat roofs and moulded cornices and blocking courses. Each bay face contains a segmental-headed window with sash frames. The central windows have vertical glazing bars (two panes over two). Windows rest on a cill course. The first floor contains three windows matching the bay windows but shorter in proportion. A moulded string course runs above the first-floor windows.

The south gable has a ground-floor window matching the first-floor front windows. To the left of this gable is a modern flat-roofed single-storey extension which links to a large return. The north gable is blank.

A full-height gabled return extends from the centre of the rear elevation. At ground-floor level within the return gable is a modern door and window, and at attic level is a very small sash window. On the south face of the return, the ground floor is abutted by the modern flat-roofed extension. At first-floor level are two windows with modern frames. The north face has a small single-storey flat-roofed extension. The rear façade of the main house contains sash windows: one to the first floor left of the return, another to the right of the return, and a third at ground-floor level to the left. At intermediate level immediately to the left of the return is a stairwell window with a modern frame.

An eaves course runs across the front façade. The rainwater goods appear to be principally cast iron.

Historical context

When surveyed in August 1974, the property appears to have belonged to the neighbouring convent and school (Assumption Grammar School). Subsequently, according to local residents, it served as the manse or minister's residence for a local church.

A large two-storey outbuilding stands to the rear of the property.