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

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

The main structure is roughly rectangular in plan with a large two-storey gable-ended return projecting to the rear (north). The front elevation faces south and is symmetrical. At the centre of the ground floor is the principal entrance, consisting of a panelled timber door with sidelights featuring Georgian panes and panelled aprons. The door is framed by timber jambs with decorative brackets and topped by an elliptical fanlight with spider's-web tracery. Flanking the entrance on either side are identical single-storey canted bays, each topped with a cornice and parapet that obscures the roof line. The first floor has three windows. To the left (west gable) at first floor level is a single window, with two smaller symmetrically arranged windows at attic level. A small single-storey corrugated iron lean-to shed is attached to this gable. The right (east) gable has two symmetrical windows at first floor level and two at attic level, these being larger than their western counterparts. The rear elevation of the main section has two windows to the left of the return and one to the right at ground floor level. The return is two-storey but slightly shorter than the main building. Its east face has a replacement part-glazed door to the left at ground floor and a window to the left at first floor. The gable end of the return has a window to centre-right at ground floor and another to the left at first floor. The west face has a window to centre-right at ground floor and another roughly at centre on the first floor.

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 finished in roughcast. Creeping plant growth covers the front façade and parts of the gables. The gabled roofs of both main section and return are slated. The main section has two rendered chimneystacks with corbelling. Rainwater goods are metal throughout, comprising half-round guttering and round downspouts. All window frames are contemporary PVC replacements, as are the windows in the canted bays.

The immediate front (south) and west of the house comprise a relatively large garden. To the rear is a large mainly paved area with farmyard containing a collection of two and single-storey outbuildings. The northeastern outbuildings, which include 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 from the 1870s or later, with an unusual stone staircase to the front. At the northeast corner is a blacksmith-made wrought-iron farm gate, with a similarly fashioned pedestrian gate at the southwest corner leading into the garden. A late Victorian or Edwardian cast iron water pump stands to the west side of the yard.

The building is depicted on the 1860 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map. Although buildings are shown on the 1834 map, none has the alignment of the present structure. It was valued at £7 in the 1862 Valuation with no subsequent change, suggesting no significant structural alterations thereafter. The house remains in residential use.