The Hill, 32 Jericho Road, Ardigon, Killyleagh, Co. Down, BT30 9TF

The Hill is a substantial two-storey gabled farmhouse built around 1840, located on a slight rise to the west of Jericho Road, just over two miles west of Killyleagh in County Down. The house is well proportioned and detailed, set within an unspoiled rural setting.

The front east façade is symmetrical and is currently almost entirely covered in ivy growth. At ground floor level, the centre features a segmental-headed doorway with a panelled door, spoked fanlight, and sidelights with margin panes to top and bottom. To the left of the doorway is a sash window with Georgian panes (six over six), and to the right is a matching window. The first floor has three similar windows, only slightly smaller. The north gable has two windows on the ground floor and two smaller versions on the first floor, all of the same type. The south gable is largely covered in ivy and features a very large modern window to the left on both ground and first floors.

The left side of the south gable merges with the south face of a rear two-storey lean-to extension. The exposed portion of the original rear façade to the left is blank. To the right is a large two-storey lean-to, added around 1979, which features mainly large modern windows, a large skylight, and a segmental arch-headed porch recess leading to a glazed rear door.

The north gable and rear façade are finished in fine pebbledash or rough cast, with quoins to the north gable. The front façade and south gable are undoubtedly also covered in the same finish, as confirmed by photographs from January 1995 when the ivy had been cleared. The gabled roof is covered in natural slate, which was partly being renewed at the time of inspection. Rendered parapets and rendered chimney stacks sit above each gable. The rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and PVC.

To the west of the house are several outbuildings, one of which has been converted to a small dwelling. Of particular interest is a two-storey stable block built in random rubble with brick quoins and a natural slate hipped roof with hay loft above. The elevation facing the yard has three timber stable doors with integral three-light windows above. The first floor has two sheeted doors accessed by a timber ladder, and the side elevation has a single timber window. The rear elevation is blank.

Attached to the stable block is a single-storey random rubble outbuilding with a regularly spaced timber Belfast Truss roof covered with corrugated iron. The trusses were manufactured by The Rex Roofing Company of Connswater, Belfast. The elevation to the yard is mainly open, though two of the bays have been infilled with masonry and corrugated iron sheeting. Close to the junction of the stables and this building is a cast iron water pump with a cow tail handle. The other outbuildings enclose the yard on the north-west side but show more substantial alterations.

Historical records show that the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 depicts a group of buildings on this general site, but none in the same position as the present dwelling. The house appears on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1859 and in the valuation records of 1861, where the property was recorded as being in the hands of Francis Weaver, who rented it from Lord Dufferin. The valuation records of around 1837 list a James Weaver as resident of a previous house on the property. Local tradition confirms that the Weaver family lived in the house, with the last family members migrating to Australia in the mid-twentieth century. The current owner acquired the property in 1970 and added the rear lean-to extension around 1979.