6 Lodge Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay three-storey-with-attic mid-terraced townhouse; built 1879 and located to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine. Square on plan with original half-timber porch to front and two-storey flat-roof modern return with single-storey extension to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on bracketted eaves. Walling is painted smooth render on a chamfered plinth with moulded string-course and masonry fascia between ground and first floor. Windows are 1/1 timber sash with horns in stop-end chamfered reveals with projecting painted sills. Tripartite timber-sheeted gabled dormer to attic, having round-headed window openings (1/1 to centre) and decorative bargeboards with trefoil detailing and finial.

The principal elevation faces southwest and is three openings wide at each floor. Half-panelled timber door to recess at ground floor right; abutted by half-timber porch (shared with neighbouring number 8 HB03/17/003D). Porch has a bracketted cornice surmounted by decorative cast-iron balustrade, is lit to southwest and opens at left cheek with a replacement glazed timber door with transom light.

The northwest gable elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB03/17/003B).

The northeast (rear) elevation has two windows at second floor; abutted at first floor by the modern brick extension which is further abutted by the single-storey extension with plastic roof covering.

The southeast elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB03/17/003D).

Setting:

Situated to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine town centre. Set back from the street with yard to front laid in modern paving and enclosed by rendered wall with painted coping. Tarmacadamed alley to northwest leads to a rear yard, and gives access to car-park at east. Outbuilding to rear forms part of a terrace and comprises two-storey painted roughcast render building with slated roof and rendered chimneystacks. The southwest elevation has two uPVC windows at first floor and is abutted at ground floor by the extension which covers the former rear yard; northeast elevation has two uPVC windows at first floor over modern garage opening with up-and-over garage door and a replacement timber-sheeted entrance door.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Painted smooth render
Windows: 1/1 timber sash with horns
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current dwelling dates from 1879 and is part of a terrace of sixteen houses built between c1859 and c1888 for Coleraine's rising middle classes. The terrace is first shown on the large scale map of Coleraine dating from 1882 and the group of four houses (numbers 2-8), of which the current dwelling is part, was inserted into valuation records in 1879. Numbers 6 and 8 Lodge Road were named ‘Cecilia Place' and this is recorded on the large-scale maps, in valuation records. The glazed porch spanning numbers 6 and 8 is shown on the 1882 map and appears to be an original feature. The terrace was considered to be on the best, because sunniest, side of Lodge Road and was occupied largely by middle-class merchants and professionals who kept at least one servant. Lodge Road was laid out between 1833 and 1845, being first shown on O’Hagan’s map of Coleraine dating from 1845 and is named after ‘The Lodge’, a dwelling house at the southern end (now replaced by a hotel). The closing decades of the nineteenth century saw a building boom of terraces and villas in Coleraine of which local people were extremely proud. The boom is said to have begun in the late 1850s when Thomas Boyd built Waterford Terrace at numbers 26 to 32 (Mullin).

The house, offices, yard and small garden was valued at £24.10s and initially occupied by Connolly Steen (1879) and leased from Robert Ferris, who was most likely the developer. The next resident was Alexander D Williamson in 1881 and Annie Mooney in 1894, when the valuation was dropped to £22. The next occupier was W J Irwin in 1912 followed by Elizabeth Steinberger in 1927 and Ernest G Bishop in 1947.

Valuer’s notes of the 1930s list the accommodation as, on the ground floor, a reception, kitchen, scullery and pantry, on the first floor, a reception and two bedrooms, on the second floor, two bedrooms and a bathroom and on the third floor two attic bedrooms. The house had water laid on and gas lighting at this time and a plan is given showing the house, single-storey and double-height returns, coal house and closet in the yard to the rear and an outbuilding at the bottom of the yard that is still present.

The house was listed in 1977 and renovations took place in the 1970s including treatment for woodworm and dry rot. An extension was built at first floor level in 2012 (HB file). The building has been amalgamated with its neighbour at number 4 in recent years and is in use as a dental surgery.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1 First Edition OS Map 1830
2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-50
3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/7/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923
5. PRONI OS/6/5/7/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1949
6. PRONI VAL/12A/5/11-13 Valuer’s Notes 1900-1912
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A-N Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/4 First General Revaluation 1933-57
9. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/2/H/23-24 First General Revaluation 1933-57
10. HB file – 03/17/003A-P
11. 1901/1911 census online

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in Coleraine and Portstewart” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1971-2
2. Mullin, Rev T H “Coleraine in Modern Times” Belfast: Century Services Ltd, 1979

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A two-bay three-storey-with-attic mid-terraced townhouse; built 1879 and located to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine. Proportions and detailing are typical of the period and largely intact, including an original half-timber entrance porch. The building forms part of an important and prominent terrace(HB03/17/003A-P), situated in the heart of Coleraine, a town largely characterised by its development within the Victorian era. Refurbished internally as a modern dental surgery in recent years, the building is of interest largely due to its group value. This terrace is one of the best preserved examples of mid to late-nineteenth century terraced architecture in the town, making an important contribution to the architectural character of Coleraine. The terrace is also of significant local interest.

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply-R-Age, S- Authenticity.