'Derryowen'

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached two-storey rough-cast rendered Arts-and-Crafts style house, built c.1907. Irregular plan form with a large projecting two-storey rough-cast rendered gabled bay to the rear. Principal elevation faces north-east, accessed via a long tree-lined avenue with decorative iron gates hung on substantial square pillars and a low rough-cast rendered wall approached from the Buncrana Road; outbuildings to the west of the property adjoin the Coshquin Road; all situated to the north-west of the city centre with the River Foyle to the east.

Pitched slate roof has three interconnecting gabled ranges; two tall rough-cast rendered tapered chimney stacks with cornices; decorative toothed terracotta ridge tiles with terracotta finials at each apex; gables have half-timber treatment on small carved timber support brackets and plain wide timber fascia and soffits; half-round cast-iron guttering discharging to circular painted cast-iron downpipes for the most part, although some small sections have been replaced with uPVC. All walls are rough-cast rendered, painted white, with black painted masonry cills, half-timbering, eaves, window and door reveals and rainwater goods. Windows are timber sliding sashes with horns having single panes to lower lights and small multi-panes to upper lights, unless otherwise described.

North-east elevation is two bays wide with a further projecting two-storey gabled bay to the left side. There is a canted bay window to either side of the entrance doorway, each have a slated hipped roof; roof on right side bay extends to provide shelter above the entrance doorway. First floor windows are square-headed, aligned above ground floor bays. Principal entrance is approached via two painted concrete steps leading to a squared headed timber door with two panels to the lower section having bolection moulding and a single glazed pane to upper section having coloured leaded glass, repeated within the transom light above, all set within a plain architrave surround; door has original brass doorbell to the right side in smooth rendered surround, painted black. Immediately to the right of the entrance, a squat pillar, square on plan and set at the outer corner of the lower step, has simple fluting on all four vertical faces.

South-east elevation is three bays wide, with a further projecting two-storey gabled bay to the left side having chamfered corners to lower section of wall. Projecting bay has paired square headed window on ground floor level and two square headed windows on first floor level; gable has half-timber treatment with plain wide painted timber fascia board and soffit. The fenestration pattern to the remaining elevation is irregular and features a large tapered chimney stack set left of centre that punctures the roof just above eaves level; a stepped cornice supports its cap and four clay pots. A single storey half-canted bay with hipped slate roof adjoins the gabled projecting bay and the main elevation, beyond which there are two small narrow windows to the right of the chimney stack and two windows on first floor level, one to the left and one to the far right side. Small windows on ground floor are 4/4 timber sliding sashes and the windows to the canted bay have been replaced with side-hung casements with fixed small multi-panes above that match the upper sashes to the remainder of the house.

South-west elevation faces on to an enclosed yard and comprises the flank end of three gabled forms, each separated by a step in plan. The main part sits on the right with central tapered chimney stack, matching that on the SE elevation, two windows and a door off-centred to its left; stepped back to the right is the end of a tall gabled toilet block, with two windows near the inside corner and the remains of a cast iron water pump opposite; stepped back again is the return face of the North-west half-timbered gable, which is blank except for the drainpipe and a short chimney stack centred on its eaves. Within the main part, the square headed door opening contains a vertically sheeted timber door with decorative ironmongery and a plain glazed transom light over; windows to its left are sliding sashes as described above. To the right of the door, a red brick (painted) single storey lean-to abuts the building; its roof is clad in profiled plastic panels that resemble terracotta tiles and it faces on to a semi-sunken yard with concrete hard-standing. The outbuilding is split in two, with a wood pellet boiler nearest to the house in a former coal house; the other side is used as a store and retains an original electrical board.

North-west elevation consists of two half-timbered gables; stepped in plan with a further tall thin gable to the re-entrant corner between them. Left side gable-end is abutted by a crenellated painted red brick wall, to its left on ground floor level are two narrow square headed windows with two above (not aligned) on first floor level. The right side gable is blank except for one window at ground floor near the inside corner, half-timbering and a clay ball finial at the apex to its projecting fascia board. The tall central gable has clipped eaves and contains a square headed doorway on ground floor level and a small timber sliding sash window, with 3/1 panes, at first floor level.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Rough-cast render painted
Windows Timber Sliding Sash, except for half-canted bay

Setting:
Located on the north east side of Coshquin Road, although the main entrance is currently approached from the Buncrana Road with rendered gate pillar and curved walling, painted white with black painted pyramidal caps; the name ‘DERRYOWEN’ is indented within the pillar on the right, also highlighted in black. The pillars support a pair of decorative cast iron gates (replacement) and the gate screen opens on to a long tree-lined avenue.

A range of brick and rubble-stone outbuildings located to the SW of the house form an enclosed yard adjacent to the Coshquin Road; steel-faced double gates, painted black, open directly on to the latter and these are hung on square rendered pillars, also painted white with black pyramidal caps. The pillars are flanked by walls that support simple single-storey lean-to structures, open to the elements at the opposite side where a timber eaves beam spans between circular cast iron columns and the roof is covered in corrugated metal sheeting. A two-storey gabled block with natural slate roof, thought to be a stable block that pre-dates the current house, has informally arranged square-headed window and door openings, the largest of which is a double-door, although a segmental arch above formed in a triple row of headers suggests that this opening has been altered. All walls are painted white, with sheeted timber doors, window shutters and cast iron rainwater goods on drive-through brackets contrasted in black. The north-west gable to the stable block is abutted by a 1 ½ storey addition, with corrugated sheet roofing and a single opening around a straight flight of concrete steps. The remainder of the yard is enclosed by walling, all painted white and connected to the building at the north-west side where a further set of gate posts, flanked by crenellated walling support a simple metal farm gate and also at the south-west side where it meets a single-storey abutment.

Historical information

No. 43 Coshquin Road, a two-storey Edwardian farmhouse located in the townland of Coshquin to the northwest of the city of Londonderry, was constructed c. 1907. The current Arts and Crafts style house is the third known dwelling to have been constructed on the current site which dates to at least the early-19th century. The first buildings on the site were depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1830 (all of which are now demolished). The contemporary Townland Valuation (c. 1831) noted that the originally dwelling was single-storey 2B class structure (that is a thatched building of medium age that was slightly decayed, but still in good repair) that measured 37ft by 21.6ft and possessed a store, a barn and stables. The farm was valued at £3 and 4 shillings in the 1830s when it was occupied by Mr Dysart, a local farmer.

There was no discernible alteration to the layout of the site by the second edition ordnance Survey map (1848-52). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1856) recorded the occupant as a Mr Robert Dysart and noted that the value of the site had been reduced to £2. The Annual Revisions state that a two-storey house had been constructed at the site in 1884. This new dwelling measured 13.3ft by 8ft and increased the total value of the farm to £8 (the two-storey outbuilding located to the south-west side of the site was most likely constructed at this time). The Census of Ireland records that Robert Dysart continued to reside at Coshquin until at least 1901. In that year Dysart lived with his sister and her husband, George and Annie Rodgers, and the census building return described his farmhouse as a 2nd class slated dwelling that consisted of six rooms and possessed a number of outbuildings including a stable, three cow houses, a dairy and a barn.

The original dwellings at the site were demolished in c. 1907 when John Carlin, a local cattle trader, came into possession of the property and had the current two-storey Arts and Crafts-style dwelling constructed. The Annual Revisions first recorded the new dwelling in 1907 when it increased the total value of the farm to £16. The 1911 census described the new farmhouse as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of 10 rooms and possessed a stable, cow house, a fowl house and a turf house as its only outbuildings. John Carlin purchased the property outright from Lord Templemore in 1916 and continued to reside at Coshquin until his death in c. 1924 at which time his relative Andrew Carlin took possession of the site. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the farm was altered to £14 and 15 shillings. Andrew Carlin also possessed a house on Beechwood Avenue in Derry where he died in 1947 (PRONI Wills). Following Carlin’s death, his widow Catherine continued to own the property in Coshquin until the 1970s (but did not reside there herself). From the 1950s the farm was occupied by a Mrs Margaret K. McGilloway and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the site stood at £23 and 15 shillings.

The farm, which is now known as Derryowen, was described by Calley in the following terms: ‘Edwardian Arts and Crafts-style house. It is made up of three two-storey intertwined gabled ranges, white washed with plain, slightly battered sided corniced chimneys. There is timber work in some of the gable-ends and the windows have single pane lower lights, many small pane upper lights. Part of its garden walls are crenelated adding further charm which combined with its outbuildings and very well-tended two-tier gardens makes this one of the best small country houses in the neighbourhood’ (Calley, p. 127). Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that Derryowen continues to be utilised as a private dwelling.

The current owner advised that the house suffered damage as a result of the Buncrana Road checkpoint bomb in October 1990. The stained leaded glass in the front door was replaced following the event (to match existing, although the owner believes it was fitted upside-down), as well as some of the windows which were blown out. He also advised that the house was formerly powered by hydro electricity, with water sourced from a small reservoir that drew water from a spring. A generator board is all that survives from this system and it is wall mounted within one of the outbuildings attached to the SE of the house.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/13/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/13/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1848-52)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/13/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/13/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1924-25)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16J – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/8A-F – Annual Revisions (1860-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/9 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. PRONI Wills Catalogue (9 Dec 1947)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Detached two-storey Arts and Craft style rough-cast rendered multi-gabled house dating from c.1907, situated to the north-west of the city of Londonderry. Approached via a tree-lined avenue from the Buncrana Road, a farm yard to the rear of main house enclosed by single and two-storey outbuildings, also opens to the Cosquin Road. The exterior retains its character with detailing consistent for its time and style and inside the plan form and a substantial amount of well crafted fixtures and fittings survive. The name of the architect is unknown, however, this is a well proportioned building, which combines half-timbered gables, canted bays, distinctive multi-paned sliding sash windows and tapered chimney stacks so that although generous in size, it remains domestic in scale and the overall composition is very well articulated. The Buncrana Road gate piers and walling, the crenellated walling that separates the driveway from the yard and the two storey gabled outbuilding, thought to be a former stable, add further interest and together with the overall mature setting that surrounds the house, significantly enhance its character.