Farmhouse, Rostrevor Rd, Hilltown, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5TZ

An interesting vernacular grouping of a mountain farm stepping down the hill slope on the east side of Rostrevor Road, Hilltown.

The main building is a two-storey, two-bay vernacular farmhouse aligned downhill, with a two-storey outbuilding abutted to its west gable. The pitched natural slate roof runs west to east and is cemented in place, with terracotta ridge tiles and brick skews to the left gable. A cast iron roof light serves the rear pitch. Two red brick chimneys sit on each gable; the right gable has been raised to accommodate an abutting outbuilding, with its chimney raised correspondingly. The walls are constructed of wet-dashed granite rubble with an advanced eaves course.

The north-facing front elevation steps with the hill slope, with the left bay positioned lower than the right. The main entrance is contained within a modern boxed porch set to the left side of the right bay, featuring a flat concrete roof and rendered concrete block walls. The porch's front wall has a three-paned steel casement window, its left a small re-used timber casement window, and its right a tongue-and-groove sheeted door. To the right of the porch sits a 1/1 sliding sash window with horns. The left bay contains two windows: the left one is infilled, and the other is a 2/6 sliding sash with horns and exposed box. All windows have roughly dressed granite cills. At first-floor level on the left bay are two very small 1/1 sliding sashes with horns and exposed boxes aligned with the ground-floor openings. On the right bay sits a two-paned casement window. The left gable is blank and abutted by a single-storey, two-bay outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof and matching granite rubble walls, featuring two doorways to the front yard. Its left gable and rear elevation are blank.

The rear elevation of the main house contains two steel casement windows at ground floor lighting the kitchen, with the first floor blank. The right gable is abutted by a two-storey, single-bay outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof and matching walls. A flight of granite steps rises from right to left on the north elevation, leading to a tongue-and-groove sheeted door at first-floor level. At ground floor to the left of the steps is a modern doorway. Its exposed left gable is blank, and its rear wall has a set of granite steps leading to a sheeted metal door at first floor. The right gable is blank and abutted by a modern single-storey shed with a lean-to corrugated metal roof sloping to the rear, with painted concrete blockwork walls and a metal sliding door to the front elevation.

A front yard accessed by modern gates from the road contains a roughly built modern shed in the north-west corner.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows a slightly smaller building at this location, not recorded in contemporary valuation. A house matching the present property's size appears on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1859 and is recorded in the 1861 valuation as the home of Michael Branagan, leased from the Marquis of Downshire with a rateable value of £1–5–0.