Highlands, 37 Farranfad Road, Farranfad, near Seaforde, Downpatrick, BT30 8NH

Highlands is a large, irregular two-storey gentleman's residence built around 1840, located at the end of a curving drive to the north of Farranfad Road, roughly a mile north-east of Seaforde and about four miles west of Downpatrick. The building displays a slightly Tudoresque and Celtic baronial style, with a profusion of gabled projections and half-dormers that closely resemble the contemporary remodelling of Delamont House. Both properties belonged to members of the Gordon family during this period, and both may be the work of the same architect.

The front elevation faces east and is asymmetrical and complex in appearance. It comprises six bays, each topped with either a gable or gabled half-dormer. The bays contain a variety of flat arch windows with Georgian paned frames, some sash and some with small hopper openers. There are two doorways on this elevation. The main doorway is to the ground floor of the second bay from the left, consisting of a timber panelled double door with simple thick granite surround, flanked by tall four-pane sidelights. Directly above is a relatively small flat-roofed oriel window. To the left, a slightly projecting bay has a large mullioned and transomed window to the ground floor with upper openers, and a tripartite sash window to the first floor. The third bay is recessed and topped with a tall half-dormer, containing a large mullioned and transomed window to the ground floor and a small sash window to the first floor within the half-dormer. The fourth bay projects again and contains a doorway with a glazed and panelled door featuring a plain Tudor arch fanlight and heavy granite surround with keystone, with a sash window above. The fifth bay matches the third bay, recessed with a tall half-dormer. The sixth bay projects slightly and has a proper gable rather than a half-dormer, with window arrangements matching the third and fifth bays.

The short south elevation has a central projecting gabled bay. To the ground floor of this bay is a large mullioned window, with a small casement window to the first floor. The bay has a pair of French doors on its west face and a ground floor window on its east face. To either side of the bay on the south façade are windows, with large double sash windows set within tall half-dormers at first-floor level. The north elevation is shorter and has a utilitarian appearance, with a sash window to the centre of the ground floor and a small casement window to the first floor to the right.

The long rear façade is complex. To the far left is a gable bay with a timber-sheeted door to the ground floor and a sash window to the first floor. To the right is a large utilitarian bay with two sash windows and a shorter casement window to the ground floor, followed by a pair of French doors, with a single centrally located sash window to the first floor. To the right of this, the rear elevation projects in three bays on its west face. The first bay (to the left) has a sash window to the ground floor with a small window to the first floor, and a small sash window to the ground floor of the north-facing gabled face. The second bay has a large mullioned window to the ground floor and a large double sash window to the first floor set within a tall half-dormer. The third bay is gabled and identical to the first bay at the front, with a shallow flat-roofed bay containing a large mullioned and transomed window to the ground floor and a large tripartite sash window to the first floor.

The façade is largely finished in plain painted render with in-and-out granite quoins to many of the bays and a thick granite eaves course to much of the building. There is a tall granite base, and ground floor windows to the front, south and part of the rear rest on a granite sill course which forms part of the base. The large ground floor windows have thick plain painted surrounds. The gables and half-dormers resemble those found on Irish and Scottish tower houses, with stone coping and granite kneelers. The roof is slated with three tall granite-capped chimney stacks, and there is a small north-facing gabled dormer with casement windows to the rear. Cast iron rainwater goods are present.

The building is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1858 and was constructed in the 1840s by Colonel Gordon, believed to have acted as an agent for the Forde family and possibly to have been a member of the Gordon family of Delamont House, which would account for the similarities between the two properties' design. The Gordons remained at Highlands until at least 1886. In the early twentieth century the property was acquired by the Corbett family and in 1960 was sold to Brian Faulkner MP, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.