Finnard House, 53 Old Newry Road, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5BQ

Finnard House is a substantial two-storey gable-ended house in late Georgian style, dating to around 1840–50, situated in a rural location at the end of a long lane north of Glenvale Road, approximately three miles west-southwest of Rathfriland.

The main portion of the building is roughly rectangular in plan with a large two-storey gable-ended return to the rear (north). The front elevation faces south and is symmetrical. At the centre of the ground floor is the main entrance, comprising a panelled timber door with sidelights containing Georgian panes and panelled aprons, timber jambs with decorative brackets, and an elliptical fanlight with spider's-web tracery. To the left of the entrance is a single-storey canted bay topped with a cornice and parapet that obscures the roof. An identical bay stands to the right. The windows in the bays, like all other window openings, have been replaced with PVC frames, possibly later than the house's original construction. The first floor has three windows above these bays. The west gable has a window at first floor level and two smaller symmetrically arranged windows at attic level, with a small single-storey corrugated iron lean-to shed attached. The east gable has two symmetrically arranged first floor windows and two more at attic level, both sets larger than their counterparts on the west gable.

The rear elevation of the main section has two windows to the left of the return on the ground floor and one to the right. The return itself is two-storey but slightly shorter than the main portion. Its east face has a replacement partly glazed door and window on the first floor to the left. The gable end of the return has a window centre-right at ground floor level and another at first floor level to the left. The west face has a window centre-right at ground floor and another at first floor centre.

The façade is finished in unpainted replacement cement render with moulded 'in-out' quoins to the front. The ground floor rear façade of the main section is rendered in roughcast. The front façade and parts of the gables are covered with creeping plant growth. The gabled roofs of the main portion and return are slated. The main section has two rendered chimneystacks with corbelling. The rainwater goods are metal throughout, with half-round guttering and round downspouts.

To the immediate front (south) and west of the house is a relatively large garden. To the rear is a large mainly paved farmyard with a collection of single and two-storey outbuildings. Those to the northeast, including a large two-storey gabled structure with rendered façade, slated roof and external stone staircase, appear to be the earliest. At the northwest corner of the yard is a lower two-storey double-pile outbuilding, possibly dating to the 1870s or later, with an unusual stone staircase to the front. The northeast corner has a farm gate with blacksmith-made wrought-iron work, matching a similarly fashioned pedestrian gate at the southwest corner leading into the garden. A late Victorian or Edwardian cast iron water pump stands on the west side of the yard.