House, Beside 205 Killowen Road, Killowen, Rostrevor, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4JZ

This is an interesting, extended vernacular house, likely built between 1840 and 1859, situated on the south side of Killowen Road in Rostrevor, County Down. The house is currently privately owned and recorded as derelict.

The main part of the house is a two-bay, two-storey structure, with a single-storey block attached to the right gable. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate and has a central chimney rendered in cement and coped at the top. Terracotta tiles highlight the roof verges, while semicircular metal rainwater goods are partially missing. The whitewashed lime render walls have a raised eaves course. The principal facade of the house faces away from the road, towards the sea. All windows in the main block have painted granite cills, except where noted. Each bay on each floor is centered with a single vertically divided 2/2 sliding sash window.

A gabled, two-storey porch abuts the facade on the right side, with its right cheek flush with the right gable. The porch has a pitched natural slate roof that meets the eaves of the main roof. Its walls are of rendered brick, and a t&g sheeted, painted timber door is located on the right cheek. A fixed 3x2 timber window is set into the ground floor of the gable, with a similar fixed but blocked-up window above it, both with timber cills. A two-paned casement window is on the first floor of the left gable.

The rear elevation is adjoined to the left bay by a derelict lean-to outshot. The remaining rear wall is consistent with the facade and has no openings, except for a 1/1 sliding sash window with a timber cill on the first floor left. The lean-to outshot has a natural slate roof (partly damaged) and no rainwater goods. Its walls are of the same lime render as the main building, and a small fixed timber window, with a timber cill, is on the left cheek.

A single-storey block adjoins the right gable of the main house, featuring a pitched natural slate roof and no rainwater goods. The walls are rendered like the main house, and a sheet metal door is located in the right bay, with a 2/2 sliding sash window in the left bay on the principal facade. All other walls of this block are blank.

A building is depicted on the 1834 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map but is not mentioned in the 1838 Valuation, suggesting it was of low value and likely only a single storey at that time. An 1863 Valuation documents dimensions of 7 yards by 2 yards by two storeys, indicative of the present house’s form.