186 Newcastle Road, Seaforde, Naghan, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 8NZ

A large two-storey farmhouse of approximately 1800-1820, situated at the corner of a short lane on the east side of Newcastle Road in the village of Seaforde. The house has a hipped roof and is accompanied by a long two-storey outbuilding return.

The main house has an asymmetrical south-facing front facade. The entrance, positioned roughly at the centre of the ground floor, comprises a panelled door with a plain fanlight. To the left of the entrance are two widely spaced sash windows with vertical glazing bars (2/2 panes). To the right are three matching windows, with six similar windows arranged in line on the first floor. The west facade facing Newcastle Road contains three windows on both floors. The long west facade of the rear outbuilding return adjoins this point, featuring five small four-pane windows on the first floor and a large flat arch vehicle doorway with timber-sheeted doors on the ground floor. The north facade has five windows with modern frames on the first floor and four windows with similar frames plus a partly glazed door on the ground floor. Some windows have been slightly enlarged. The short east facade has a modern glazed door with sidelight on the ground floor.

The outbuilding return's east facade displays two timber-sheeted doors (the rear end of the vehicle entrance) and two windows on the ground floor, a timber-sheeted door reached by a timber staircase with a window to the far left on the first floor, and a timber-sheeted door on the north-facing gable serving both floors.

The south and west facades of the house are finished in painted lined render; the north and east facades are in unrendered random rubble. The east facade of the outbuilding is random rubble with a painted gable and rendered and painted west facade. The house roof is covered in natural slate with three rendered chimney stacks. The outbuilding is covered in fibre cement slate with a Velux window to the east. Cast iron rainwater goods are present throughout.

The 1836 valuation recorded a building of these dimensions as the home of John Neill and graded it 'A-', indicating a relatively new structure possibly under thirty years old. While deeds in the owner's possession are dated 1747, these rural deeds typically concern land rather than buildings and are not reliable indicators of the structure's actual age. The Taylor and Skinner Road map of 1777 does not show buildings along this lane, further supporting the early 19th-century dating. The house and its neighbour at 184 Newcastle Road are believed to have served as homes for farm managers of the Forde estate. The property remained in estate ownership until around 1912, when it was sold to a Mr Strain; his descendants occupied it until the early 1970s. The building stood vacant and deteriorated during the late 1970s and early 1980s before the present owner purchased it in 1984 and undertook renovation work. The outbuilding return, also recorded in the 1836 valuation, housed a shoemaker's workshop in the early 1900s and served as a cinema during the 1940s.