20 Victoria Square, Rostrevor, Co.Down

A mid-terrace three-bay two-storey Victorian house with attic, built in 1880 to designs by David Mahood, a local builder and contractor. The building is rendered and painted throughout. It forms part of a terrace of five similar houses, originally named Albert Terrace, which line the northwest side of Victoria Square—a formally designed Victorian square arranged on three sides around a central green, primarily accessed from Shore Road to the southwest.

The house has a T-shaped plan form facing southeast, with a three-storey return centred at the rear. The pitched roof is natural slate with roll-top terracotta ridge tiles and raised verge tiles. Red brick chimneys are shared with neighbouring properties: a corbelled coping chimney to the southwest (shared with No. 18 Victoria Square) and a similar chimney to the northeast (shared with No. 22 Victoria Square). Scrolled brackets on painted timber eaves support a painted timber soffit to the roof overhang. The roof is fitted with a uPVC ogee moulded gutter discharging to circular downpipes. A pair of dormers to the southeast feature hipped slate roofs, lead flashing, terracotta ridge tiles and finials.

The walling is generally smooth rendered at ground floor level with roughcast rendered walling to the first floor. A smooth raised rendered sill course runs at first-floor level. Window openings are square-headed with roll-moulded lips to the timber box frame reveals. Typical windows are three-over-three margin-paned timber sliding sash windows unless otherwise noted.

The principal front elevation faces southeast and is symmetrical, with a central entrance flanked by single-storey canted bays with hipped lead roofs and half-round uPVC gutters. The entrance features a depressed-arched opening with a projecting roll-moulded edge to the rendered reveal, a square-headed six-panelled timber door flanked by side-lights with scrolled pilasters, and a fanlight above with a glazed circular inset. The dormers have square-headed timber casement windows. A concrete pathway flanked by formal lawn with a pair of concrete steps leads to the entrance.

The southwest elevation is attached to No. 18 Victoria Square. The side elevation of the return is two-bay three-storey with a flat roof and square-headed openings throughout, featuring three-over-three margin-paned timber sliding sash windows, with timber casement windows to the first and second floors of the rear return.

The rear elevation faces northwest and is three-bay two-storey with a projecting central rear return having a flat roof with a moulded string course at second-floor level (possibly an eaves level to a former cat-slide roof). Flat-roofed dormers flank each side of the rear return. The return has a single-bay single-storey lean-to abutment to the northwest with a slate roof. Square-headed openings throughout include a half-glazed timber door flanked by side-lights and an overlight to the right side of the return at ground floor, a four-over-four timber sliding sash window to the ground floor at the left side of the return, and timber casement windows to the rear return and dormers. The northeast elevation is attached to No. 22 Victoria Square. The side elevation of the rear return is three-storey with a single-storey monopitch-roof extension adjoining to the northwest, featuring a multi-paned glazed door with two sliding sash windows adjacent at ground-floor level. Rainwater goods are cast-iron and uPVC.

The house is set back from the road behind a low smooth rendered boundary wall with rounded coping, square-plan piers with domed coping and decorative timber details. The rear garden is enclosed with rendered boundary walling, with a sheeted timber door opening to a shared alley to the rear. A three-bay single-storey rendered outbuilding within the rear garden, having a mono-pitch slate roof, abuts the house at 90 degrees and is attached to the boundary wall of No. 22 Victoria Square. The outbuilding appears contemporary with the house and features timber sheeted doors and four-over-four timber sliding sash windows. The rear garden contains formal lawn and gravel paths with a mature hedge.

Materials include natural slate to the roof, cast-iron rainwater goods (with some uPVC to the rear), smooth and roughcast render to the walling, and timber sliding sash windows with timber casement windows to the rear only.