12 Lodge Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay three-storey-with-attic mid-terrace former dwelling, now commercial premises; built 1880 and located to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine. Square on plan with two-storey return 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 plinth with moulded eaves course. Cornice of porch entablature extends across facade to form string-course above ground floor. Windows are 1/1 timber sash with horns in chamfered stop-end reveals with projecting painted sills. Timber dormer to attic with Venetian-style arrangement of three round-headed window openings and plain bargeboards.

The principal elevation faces southwest and is three openings wide at each floor. Entrance at ground floor left comprises bolection moulded four-panel timber door with plain transom light in a stop-end chamfered reveal. Entrance is flanked by pilasters and surmounted by plain entablature with an ovolo-moulded cornice; accessed via a single concrete step.

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

The northeast elevation could not be viewed.

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

Setting:

Situated to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine town centre. Set back from the street with yard to front laid in square concrete paving, bounded by rendered walls with coping and square piers to entrance at southwest. Yard to rear enclosed by a terraced two-storey outbuilding. Outbuilding is painted smooth render slated roof and rendered chimneystack; northeast elevation has a modern up-and-over garage door at left and timber-sheeted door at right.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: 1/1 timber sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current dwelling dates from 1880 and is part of a development of sixteen houses built between c1859 and c1888 and occupied largely by middle-class residents, many of them connected with customs and excise. The terrace is first shown on the large scale map of Coleraine dating from 1882 and the group of four houses, of which the current dwelling is part (numbers 10-16), was inserted into valuation records in 1880. The present house was originally named ‘Elisa Villa’ and this name is recorded on the large-scale maps and in valuation records, although the name plaque on the house currently bears the name ‘Nirvana’. 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 initially valued at £24.10s, occupied by William Price (1880) and leased from Edward Conville. Subsequent occupiers were Samuel N Searancke (1887), Robert W Jewell (1888) and James Crawford (1911). At the time of the 1901 census the occupier was Robert William Jewell, a cork manufacturer who lived with his wife and two daughters and kept a general domestic servant. The eleven-room house was designated first class. The 1911 census records the occupier as James Crawford, insurance agent, who lived with his wife and the three surviving sons of the five children born to the couple. In 1921 the house was taken over by a doctor, Charles Forsythe MD JP and by Thomas Duke in 1938.

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, return and an outbuilding at the bottom of the yard that is still present.

The house was listed in 1977 and renovations and repairs took place in the 1980s, followed by conversion to office accommodation. The building has latterly been occupied by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (HB file).

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
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-terrace former dwelling, now commercial premises; built 1880 and located to the east side of Lodge Road in Coleraine. Architectural detailing is largely intact and the proportions and detailing are typical of the period. Number 12 forms part of an important and prominent terrace, situated in the heart of Coleraine, a town largely characterised by its development during the Victorian era. This group (HB03/17/003A-P) is one of the best preserved examples of mid-to-late-nineteenth century terraced architecture, making an important contribution to the architectural character of Coleraine town centre. The terrace is also of significant local interest.

General comments

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