What Lies Behind Closed Doors

The owners of this period property in Royal Hillsborough have sensitively extended and renovated, creating a home that is full of character and charming surprises.

- MAGS CONNOLLY

The owners started married life in Belfast for convenience to get to work and their children to go to school although their hearts were always in Hillsborough. When circumstances were changing they began looking for a place in Hillsborough as both had very happy childhood memories of growing up there – it took them a good five years to find the right house in the right setting!

‘The house had a ‘sale agreed’ notice on it when we came across it on the internet, but we phoned the estate agent and enquired ‘how agreed was agreed?’ and found out that the chain had just been broken.’ Straight away they made an appointment to see it, instantly saw the potential and knew this house, which consists of the main house and a separate cottage, was what they’d been looking for. They immediately put an offer on it, even though they knew there was a lot to do to bring it back to life.

The original main house consisted of three bedrooms, an upstairs bathroom, a big sitting room, a basement toilet and a kitchen with a very small eating area. A courtyard connects the main house and the cottage, which has two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, sitting room and a utility room giving access to a beautiful landscaped garden.