3 CLOONEY PARK EAST

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Late Victorian detached two-storey roughcast rendered Arts and Crafts style house, built c.1890s and painted white, with black dressings and half-timber work. Rectilinear on plan with a large projecting rear return. Principal elevation faces southwest accessed via short tarmac driveway with a red brick boundary wall to the northwest side, approached from Clooney Park East, just off the Limavady Road, on the east bank of the River Foyle.

Hipped roof has platform centre, profiled interlocking concrete tiles, two tall rough-cast rendered unpainted chimney stacks with a concrete cornice and ventilated terracotta clay pots; one chimney stack rises from the SW side, cruciform on plan and set at an angle, and the other, rectangular on plan, rises from the NE side. Smaller roughcast rendered chimneystack to the rear return, centred on ridge with two terracotta clay pots and a moulded concrete cornice. Timber fascia and soffit with exposed rafter tails; moulded uPVC guttering discharging to circular painted cast-iron and square uPVC downpipes throughout.

Southwest elevation has open glazed entrance porch at chamfered corner to right side, facing South and a projecting canted bay to left side, with half-timbered gable cantilevered above, deep overhanging eaves and plain timber fascia board; painted. Three-sided canted bay contains square-headed timber windows with top-hung casements and leaded lights; paired to centre. The first floor cantilevered gable, supported by large timber brackets to either side, contains a smaller canted bay window (also having leaded lights) on two carved timber brackets below sill level, centred on its apex.

Northwest elevation has a projecting two-storey gabled bay to left of centre; a single storey lean-to porch abuts its southwest face, accessed via two steps; and a single storey flat roofed addition abuts its northeast face, beyond which there are three bays of the main building, with irregular fenestration - 1/2 timber sliding sashes to first floor and timber casements below. Half-timber work at first floor level runs continuously from the front (southwest) to the northeast face of the gabled projection at this side of the house. Projecting bay has two narrow timber framed leaded lights to ground floor with masonry cill and moulded cornice (atop a flat rendered band), all painted black; timber frame window to first floor, divided equally in three, with leaded glass; all centred on apex. Entrance porch has concrete tiled roof, panelled timber door with leaded top pane and plain architrave surround.

Northeast elevation consists of a two-storey hipped roof bay to left, with small rendered chimneystack and a 1/2 timber sliding sash window set just below eaves height, both centred on its apex; to right is the flank end of the northwest facing gable, with half-timber work to side cheek of cantilever, a 1/2 timber sliding sash window to opposite corner at first floor level and a tall rendered chimney rising from above eaves level to roof. A smooth rendered single storey lean-to with corrugated metal roof and horizontal opening split into three multi-paned windows abuts the hipped roof bay and to its left is a timber carport on circular posts, with corrugated polycarbonate roof. Behind the carport, painted brick walls that support lean-to outhouses on two sides enclose a small paved yard to the southeast corner. The outhouses have roughcast rendered walls, boarded timber doors, and corrugated metal roofing, all painted.

Southeast elevation has a projecting canted bay with cantilevered gable and half-timber work above, placed centrally; to right, a 1/2 window at first floor level is set back within the hipped roof projection and an enclosed yard (described above) abuts its northeast face; to left is an open glazed verandah to chamfered corner with heavy overhanging eaves and hipped roof, facing South. The wall to the enclosed yard contains a single four-panelled door, painted white. Paired casement window to cantilevered half-timbered gable, with top-hung leaded night vents; otherwise, this entire bay matches that to the front (southwest).

Verandah is timber framed and set one step above tarmacked driveway, with square spindles spanning between eaves soffit and storm glazed sides, supported on continuous horizontal rail spanning between square section columns with projecting moulded caps. Half-glazed timber framed door to chamfered corner of main building, with 1/2 tall timber casement windows on painted masonry cills to its southeast and southwest sides.

Materials:
Roof Profiled concrete roof tiles
RWG uPVC & Cast-iron (downpipes only)
Walling Rough-cast render, painted white with black painted dressings.
Windows Timber sliding Sash and timber casements.

Setting:
Located on Clooney Park East, just off the Limavady Road, a tree-lined busy thoroughfare to the city within a suburban
setting on the East Bank of the River Foyle. No. 3 Clooney Park is a detached house along a row of three large detached houses varying in type and style with extended gardens to the front and rear. Principal entrance accessed via a small porch at the northwest side.

Historical information

The development of Clooney Park East dates from the late 1890s and this property (or at least its plans) has been dated to 1896. Comprising a house, yard and garden, it appears as a new entry in the Valuation Revision Books in 1904 (where it is identified as property no. 6, Clooney Park East) with an initial valuation of £53 revised to £49.

The occupier of this property was David Osborne. In the 1911 census the property is listed as 13 Clooney Road. David Osborne was identified in the census as a grain merchant. The House and Building Return states that there were 10 rooms in the occupation of the family.

The design of this house was the work of Alfred Arthur Forman. Calley (p. 118) comments: ‘Like much of Forman’s work it is very much a three dimensional edifice, which is a pleasure to view from nearly any angle.’ In a number of sources it has been incorrectly placed in Clooney Park West.

The Osbornes continued to live in this house, which they named Saint Moira’s, until the 1940s. David Callender Osborne of Saint Moira’s, a retired merchant, died in 1944. His widow Elizabeth died in 1947. The First General Revaluation shows that by 1949 the property had come into the possession of William E. Caldwell.

Primary sources
1. PRONI, Valuation map, c. 1908–c.1918, VAL/12/D/5/14D (based on Ordnance Survey map published in 1907)
2. PRONI, Valuation index map, [c.1873]-1910, VAL/12/E/157/2
3. PRONI, Ordnance Survey map, 1933, OS/6/5/14/4
4. PRONI, Ordnance Survey map, 1954, OS/6/5/14/5
5. PRONI, Ordnance Survey map, 1964, OS/6/5/14/6
6. PRONI, Valuation Revision Books, 1898-1930, VAL/12/B/33/4A-E
7. PRONI, Annual Revisions List of the First General Revaluation, 1936-57, VAL/3/C/6/13
8. NIEA, First Survey Card
9. NIEA, HB Records

Secondary sources
1. W. S. Ferguson, A. J. Rowan and J. J. Tracey, List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the City of Derry (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970)
2. Daniel Calley, City of Derry: An Historical Gazetteer to the Buildings of Londonderry (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013)

Online sources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie
2. 1901 and 1911 census returns: www.census.nationalarchives.ie
3. PRONI, Will Calendars: www.proni.gov.uk

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
R. Age

Evaluation

Detached two-storey Arts and Craft style roughcast rendered house, built c.1890s and designed by Australian–born Alfred A. Foreman. Painted white with black dressings and heavy overhanging tiled roof, it sits within a mature garden on a tree-lined suburban street above the east bank of River Foyle. The house is carefully articulated and well proportioned, rectilinear on plan with half-timbered gables cantilevered above projecting bays on three sides and a chamfered corner verandah, making it distinctive from all angles. Minor external alterations - some replacement windows and plastic rainwater goods - do not impact on the overall character of the house. A good amount of original detailing, such as delicate leaded glass, remains extant. An enclosed yard with lean-to outhouses survives to the rear and at the driveway entrance, a set of simple square gateposts with linear indentations further enhance its quality and add to the overall display of craftsmanship.