Small house at Finnebrogue estate farmyard, 31a Killyleagh Road, Finnabrogue, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 9

Small House at Finnebrogue Estate Farmyard

A very small rubble-built single-storey gabled dwelling house of probable pre-1834 construction, located at the Finnebrogue estate farmyard on the south-east side of Killyleagh Road, roughly two miles north of Downpatrick, County Down. The house forms part of a complex of farm buildings developed over several periods from approximately the 1790s to the mid-twentieth century.

The dwelling incorporates a converted rubble-built lean-to and has a recently added conservatory section. The house is of little architectural interest.

The property is positioned to the south-west side of the farmyard grouping, adjacent to the main gateway. Access is via the north-east gable. The main doorway, brick-dressed, is centrally positioned and features a recent timber-sheeted door with a kite-shaped glazed panel. The doorway is flanked by high-level brick-dressed narrow windows with lattice frames. A linked brick label moulding connects the doorway and window grouping. To the left, the gable merges with the north-east face of the lean-to.

The lean-to originally functioned as a shed. Its north-east face shows evidence of a former doorway, which has been replaced by a very small window with brick-dressed sides and lattice frames. The longer south-east elevation consists entirely of the lean-to. The right half contains the original section with no openings. The left half is a recently constructed conservatory with a rubble-built base. The north-west elevation merges with the boundary wall facing onto Killyleagh Road and has no openings. The south-east gable features a central brick-dressed window with what appears to be a recent frame.

The main façade outside the conservatory is random fieldstone rubble. The main gabled roof and the non-conservatory section of the lean-to roof are slated. A Velux window is present on the south-west side of the main roof. Stone parapets and a central brick chimneystack are visible. The rainwater goods are PVC.

The dwelling is shown on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map and was recorded in the 1838 valuation as a house. The lean-to does not appear to have been present at that stage, though its construction suggests it may have been added not long after and incorporated into the dwelling sometime later. The conservatory was added relatively recently, certainly after 1976 and probably after 1991.