Foyle House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1910, with two-bay two-storey rear return. Set on an elevated site on the north side of Ballougry Road overlooking River Foyle with roofless rubblestone building to west and enclosed front garden.

Pitched artificial slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and profiled yellow brick chimneystacks to either gable end having terracotta pots and bird cages. UPVC guttering to rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Painted rendered walling with rusticated render quoins and smooth rendered plinth course. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills, architrave surrounds and replacement single-pane timber sash windows.

Symmetrical three-bay two-storey front elevation with elliptical-headed central door opening having replacement double-leaf timber doors, sidelights and replacement spoked fanlight. Door flanked by flat-panelled pilasters and moulded architrave with keystone. Door opens onto concrete step to front garden.

Gabled west side elevation has overhanging eaves with timber bargeboard and a single off-centre window opening to the first floor with uPVC window.

Rear elevation abutted by two-bay two-storey rendered return. Pebble-encrusted cement rendered walls to return, uPVC windows and hardwood panelled door.

East side elevation mirror of west elevation, except retaining a single-pane timber sash window.

Setting:
Set on an elevated site on the north side of Ballougry Road with enclosed front garden and side access via concrete drive enclosed by iron gate hung on rendered piers with finials. To the west of the house is a roofless rubblestone former thatched cottage.

Roof Artificial slate
RWG uPVC/Cast-iron
Walling Painted render / pebble-encrusted cement render
Windows Replacement timber sash / uPVC

Historical information

No. 17 Brea Head Road, a two-storey three-bay farmhouse located in the townland of Termonbacca and also known as Foyleview House, was constructed in 1910. The site of Foyle House was occupied from at least the early-19th century. The first edition Ordnance Survey map records that the site of the Edwardian house was originally occupied by a number of buildings that were located on both sides of the Brae Head Road. The derelict single-storey outbuilding, located to the west side of the current farmhouse, is one of these original buildings and dates from c. 1830 (the rest of the outbuildings have been demolished). The buildings were not included in the Townland Valuation (c. 1834) as they were not valued at the £3 minimum required for inclusion.

There was no change to the layout of the site by the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1853) which continued to depict a number of rectangular-shaped buildings on both sides of the road. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1857) recorded that the site was leased by The Honourable The Irish Society and was divided between two occupants. The valuer notes that the buildings on the southern side of the Brae Head Road were occupied by a Mr. John Carolan and were valued at £1 and 15 shillings. The single-storey outbuilding to the west side of the current farmhouse was valued at 15 shillings and was originally utilised as a dwelling by a Mr. Archibald McCaul. The surviving single-storey outbuilding continued to be occupied by McCaul until 1877 when the dwelling passed to Alexander Eccles. In 1894 the building was occupied by Marshall McKay, a local farmer. The 1901 census described McKay’s property as a third class thatched dwelling that consisted of two rooms and possessed a stable, a cow house and a barn amongst its outbuildings. The Annual Revisions note Marshall McKay purchased the site outright in 1908 (the buildings to the south side of the Brae Head Road were owned by Lady Mary Miller of Termonbacca House at that time).

The current two-storey three-bay farmhouse was constructed for Marshall McKay by 1910 when it was first valued at £9 in the Annual Revisions. The 1911 census described the newly completed property, which was known as ‘Foyleview House,’ as a second class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms. Following the construction of the house the former thatched dwelling was converted into an outbuilding. The house was first depicted on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map (1924-25) which depicted the building along its current T-shaped layout (possessing its two-storey rear return). Marshall McKay continued to reside at Foyleview House until his death in 1943 at which time his son Neil McKay took possession of the site (PRONI Wills). Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the farmhouse and its outbuildings was increased to £22. Neil McKay continued to reside at Foyleview until at least the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) which further raised the value of the farmhouse to £27.
Foyleview house continues to be utilised as a private dwelling. Field inspection of the site carried out during the Second Survey has found that all the buildings to the south side of the Brae Head Road have been demolished.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1924-25)
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuation (c. 1834)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16A – Griffith’s Valuation (1857)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/10A-10G – Annual Revisions (1860-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/9 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
11. Census of Ireland (1831; 1901; 1911)
12. PRONI Wills Catalogue (22 Nov 1943)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB01/12/017 (No Date)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1910, with two-bay two-storey rear return. A plain early twentieth-century house with restrained detailing. The house retains much of its internal and external fabric intact, but whilst of local interest, the building is not of sufficient special architectural and historic interest to merit listing.

General comments

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1910, with two-bay two-storey rear return. A plain early twentieth-century house with restrained detailing. The house retains much of its internal and external fabric intact, but whilst of local interest, the building is not of sufficient special architectural and historic interest to merit listing.