Strangemore House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 2 storey roughcast rendered house with gables and hips and slated roof. The entrance façade, which faces north, is 5 bays long, the 2 bays to the east project forward one bay. The entrance is in a 2 storey canted bay with rusticated stone surround and thin cornice with shallow block piece on top. The door opening is arched with plain fanlight. On either side of the canted bay single 4 pane sliding sash windows with low cills. The projecting 2 bays or front return has 2 no. 4 pane sliding sash windows widely spaced. The flanking wall has 1 similar window. All have low cills. At first floor level there is a window over each ground floor opening except that the windows are of slightly lesser height and the cill levels of the 1st 3 bays are much lower than the others indicating a change of level in floors. Likewise the roofline of the 1st 3 bays is lower. The frieze band fills the space between window head and gutters.

Walls have a roughcast render and window reveals a smooth render showing as a thin line on the edge. There is a gabled roof over the 1st 3 bays with Bangor blue slates and gabled chimney stack. Over the canted bay there is a faceted hip roof with lead hips. Over the front return the roof is hipped with tiled ridges.

The east elevation is 2 bays wide with a single ground floor window of similar type as entrance front. There are 2 chimneys, one to each bay. Each shouldered stack has a deep frieze and cornice and divided into 2 panels on the wide faces. At first floor there are 4no. 4 pane sliding sash windows evenly spaced and over the frieze band. There is a PVC gutter and single downpipe. Wall and reveal finishes as before.

The S elevation is 5 bays long with the 2 bays to the east projecting slightly with 2 windows as before on ground and 2 directly over. Wall finishes similar with frieze continued. A 2 storey small gabled back return occurs in the middle of the other 3 bays. Roofline lower. Windows are symmetrically arranged on either side at ground and first floor. There is a further single storey return to the back return with a hipped lean to roof. Wall finishes are similar and ground floor windows are 12 pane sliding sash.

The West gable has a narrow window and a door at ground floor and a central chimney stack on the gable.

The house is prominently sited on the north side of Lower Main Street in its own grounds. There is a gateway entrance from Main Street and another avenue entrance from Pellipar avenue. North of the house is a small stream draining towards the River Roe and may have been a feature of the garden in the past.

To the West of the house and a little distance from it is a 2 storey coachhouse presently being restored. Gabled with chimney stacks on each gable and with Georgian glazed window. Coach doors have segmental arches. There were good cast iron gates to Main Street with decorative finials made by Brown of Derry. They have recently been shot blasted. Boundary wall rendered in roughcast with concrete coping.

Historical information

The O.S. Memoirs refers to Leslie Ogilby residing in the house now known as Strangemore and is described as modern and commodious and in the perfect state of order and elegance in which these 2 buildings, with their office houses and grounds, are kept in add much beauty to the entrance of the town from Londonderry” (The other house referred to is Owenbeg Cottage).

The house is shown on the O.S. map of 1832. John McCloskey in 1821 describes “Indeed Mr Leslie Ogilby’s house is remarkably neat and fitted up with the utmost comfort in his own good taste”.

The O.S. map of Dungiven 1859 (Val. map 60” to 1ml.) shows Strangemore with a different plan form from what it has today. The present owner has a photograph c 1910 showing the house with an additional wing of 3 bays to the west and having a remarkable wide overhang. The house of 1859 probably had 2 wings of 3 bays and another of 2 bays to the east. The east wing was demolished c 1900 and the present east block built. This is what is shown on the O.S. map of 1905. The centrepiece with canted bay may have been part of an almost symmetrical façade 8 bays long.

The present coach house is shown on the 1905 O.S. map somewhat shorter in length than on the 1859 map. The present coach house is being restored. The present owners have been in possession since the 1950s.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A late Georgian house much altered by subsequent generations. Occupies an important site at the entrance to Dungiven from the West and close by the River Roe. It is historically of some interest and deserves to be recorded.