6 Brick Row, Horner'S Lane, Rostrevor, Co.Down

A one-and-a-half-storey, two-bay Victorian end-of-terrace house, built circa 1872–74, most likely designed by architect William James Watson. The building features modest red-brick construction with blue brick and red sandstone dressings. A two-storey rear return was added in 1992 to designs by an unknown architect.

The house forms part of a terrace of six similar dwellings (HB16.06.038A–E inclusive) located on the north-west side of Horner's Lane, off Bridge Street, Rostrevor. The terrace is grouped into symmetrical pairs, each pair sharing architectural features and flanked by recessed semi-circular arched doors at the centre. Above each pair sits a shared dormer with a single diminutive window per dwelling. The dormers and gabled bay windows feature decorative pierced painted timber bargeboards.

The front elevation faces south-east and is fronted by a shared gravelled area bounded by a random-coursed rubble stone wall with rock-faced coping. A vehicular entrance lies to the east. The principal front elevation comprises open porches formed by continuous over-sailing eaves supported on decorative timber brackets. These porches are flanked by narrowly projecting gabled bay windows on either side.

The walling is generally English Garden Bond red brick with a red brick plinth and single blue brick courses at window cill and impost levels. Stop-chamfered brick detail marks the end of the terrace and frames door and window jambs. Square-headed window openings have red sandstone heads and splayed red sandstone cills. Typically, top-opening timber casement windows are found throughout. A semi-circular red sandstone arch crowns the gabled bay window, with a herringbone-pattern brick flush spandrel panel.

The pitched fibre cement tile roof to the front slope has angled black clay ridge tiles. The shallow pitched roof of the two-storey return abuts the main roof just below ridge level, forming a wide valley. The return roof is hipped at the south-east side where it discharges into the valley and gabled to the north-west side. A rectangular-section red brick chimney to the south-west gable carries nine courses of blue brick to its top half and a single terracotta clay pot.

Eaves are narrowly projecting with exposed painted timber rafter ends. Metal rainwater goods with half-round guttering discharge to circular section downpipes; uPVC rainwater goods serve the rear return.

The principal front elevation faces south-east with a painted sheeted timber door opening onto an open porch formed by over-sailing eaves supported by decorative painted timber posts with decorative trefoil brackets. The door opens onto a concrete platform accessed via a granite step from the shared gravelled yard. The dormer window is centred above the paired porches.

The south-west side elevation adjoins a pathway and modest garden bounded by a rubble stone wall. It consists of three bays with a verge to the south-east carrying a decorative painted timber bargeboard and a red and blue brick chimney. The elevation has a pebbledash rendered finish with top-opening timber casement windows and painted slim concrete cills. Windows to the first floor of the rear return are wider than those at ground floor level.

The north-west rear elevation faces toward a high stone retaining wall and consists of the two-storey gabled pitched-roofed rear return with a single ground-floor window. A three-part top and side-opening timber casement window and painted flush timber door with glazed top half are located on the left (north-east); the door opens onto a narrow lowered section of concrete yard enclosed by dwarf modern block walling and accessed via two concrete steps.

The north-east elevation is attached to No. 5 Brick Row (HB16.06.038E).

The building is located within the Rostrevor Conservation Area. The site is bounded to the front and side by rubble stone walling and to the rear by a high stone retaining wall. Rear facades along Brick Row are generally much altered with extensions of various shapes and sizes. A pair of two-and-a-half-storey red brick semi-detached dwellings on a raised site to the south-west end of Brick Row bears similarity to the Brick Row houses but is much larger with some significant differences in detail.

Materials: Fibre cement roof slates, uPVC rainwater goods, red brick and blue brick walling with red sandstone dressings, painted timber casement windows.