'Long Cottage', 3 Hilltown Road, Bryansford village, Aghacullion, Newcastle, Co Down, BT33 0PX

Long Cottage, 3 Hilltown Road, Bryansford village, Aghacullion, Newcastle, County Down

This is a large, modern-looking single-storey house constructed around a much smaller dwelling of probable pre-1834 origin. The property stands at the junction of Hilltown Road and Burrenreagh Road at the western end of Bryansford village.

The building is basically L-shaped and has more than doubled in size in recent years. The original portion runs west to east, but the entrance is now located on the east façade of a large rear return, which is a modern extension. The return features a timber-panelled door and modern casement windows with small lattice panes to one light on each window.

The south façade of the original section has five similar windows, one of which is notably long and has been enlarged in recent times. The east gable of the original section, which is almost flush with the east façade of the return, has two similar windows. The west gable is much larger than that to the east and has an uneven pitch. This unevenness results from the original rear wall to the west of the return having been demolished and the new wall set further back, allowing the original main portion to extend northwards. A modern flat-roofed extension in brick, with large windows and a glazed door, now stands against this west gable.

The rear (north façade of the original section and the return) is entirely modern with various-sized windows and a large set of patio doors. The entire façade, except for the flat-roofed extension to the west gable, is finished in rough-cast render, left unpainted. The gabled roof has largely uneven pitch with overhang, covered in natural slate with decorative barge boards and eaves. There are four brick chimney stacks and PVC rainwater goods.

Ordnance Survey maps of 1834 and 1859 both show a building on the site of the original portion. The property was numbered on the accompanying valuation map, indicating it was probably above rateable value at that time. By 1863, when the second valuation survey was carried out, the house was in the hands of Loughn Frazer and had a relatively low value of £4. The building was split into two properties at some point after this and remained as such until both were bought by the present owner in 1975 and amalgamated. In recent years, the building has been greatly extended and modernised.