1 Milltown Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

One and a half storey/ three bay Picturesque-style house with rear return set in garden on E side of Milltown Street.

Steeply pitched natural slate roof with boxed eaves, cusped timber bargeboards and exposed purlin tails to end gables. Roof is aligned N-S, with half round metal rainwater goods. Between central and left bays of roof is a pair of tall rendered chimneystacks with concrete coping, set at angles on a common rendered base. Walls are wet cement dashed with a smooth basecourse.

Principal elevation faces W. It has a gabled central porch with roof detailed as that to house and tied into its front pitch. To its front, which is smooth rendered, is the main entrance contained within a plain rectangular opening. Reproduction door is four panelled, top two are glazed and the bottom two are bolection moulded; narrow four paned sidelights. Its gable apex is also smooth rendered with three raised render verticals (mimicking half timbering) creating four panels. Left and right cheeks of porch are blank.

To left and right bays of façade are single rectangular (landscape) window openings with smooth rendered architraves and granite cills. Each opening contains three timber lattice casements, each with a shallow Tudor arched head. All windows are as these unless otherwise stated.

Left (N) and right (S) elevations are identical; the front and rear walls advance to stand flush with the overhanging eaves thereby creating recessed gable walls. Window (as façade) to ground floor. To upper floor apex is a 2/2 vertical divided sliding sash window. Apex rendered as porch.

Rear (E) elevation is abutted to centre by a wide rear return. The exposed right section of the rear wall is blank. The exposed left section has a rectangular window opening containing a pair of Tudor casements.

Return has a pitched natural slate roof (aligned W-E) which ties into rear pitch of main roof. It has a cast iron skylight on its S pitch and a small modern flue pipe on its N pitch. Both have modern ventilators. Gabled dormer to the centre of each pitch (with bargeboards detailed as main roof), and containing a 2/2 sliding sash window with matching 1/1 sidelights. Cheeks are blank. Slightly recessed gable wall of return has window (as those to the dormers) set to ground floor right. Above, at upper floor, is a 2/2 sliding sash window with a 1/1 sliding sash window to its left, each with concrete cill.

Right (N) cheek of return has a pair of modern glazed doors. Left (S) cheek of return has a small windbreak porch to centre under a cat-slide of the main roof. It has a half-glazed door, (as front door). Its cheeks are blank and are flanked to left and right by a Tudor lattice casement window.

Setting.

Mature garden has a small modern shed and a larger garage to SE of house. Both are in rubble stone with pitched natural slate roofs. Garden is enclosed to N, W and S by Milltown Street and the Donaghaguy Road, and garden rises to the E where house situated. To E is the boundary with an adjacent house. Garden is enclosed to W by a rubble stone wall which continues to Donaghaguy Road as a modern rubble stone wall which sweeps inwards to the drive at S. Drive has a pair modern of timber gates supported on plain timber posts.

Historical information

This site was occupied by a school belonging to the Church Education Society from the mid 1800s until c.1888. In this year a house is first noted in the Valuation Revision book. This, coupled with the fact that the plan of the building on the 1860 OS 6" map differs from its depiction on the 1901-02 map, suggests a new construction rather than an adaptation of the existing one; some of the elements of the original school, e.g. the windows, may be incorporated.

Primary sources:
1. OS 6" map, 1860, sheet 51 (PRONI, OS/6/3/51/2).
2. Valuation Revision book (PRONI, VAL/12B/22/23D, p.84).
3. OS 6" map, 1901-02, sheet 51 (PRONI, OS/6/3/51/3).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This Tudor-Picturesque house, set in mature garden, has been much modernised …………………