Survey Data
Reg No
40815014
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
House
Date
1900 - 1920
Coordinates
234567, 431599
Date Recorded
10/09/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1910, having advanced gable-fronted bays to either end of the front elevation (south-east), having single-bay two-storey flat-roofed canted bay windows, central single-bay gable-fronted entrance porch, and with single- and two-storey returns and extensions to the rear (north-west). Single-storey flat-roofed canted window and single-storey flat-roofed bowed window to the north-east elevation. Modern single- and two-storey extensions to the rear, and two-storey garage extension to the south-west elevation. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge cresting, central pair of rendered chimneystacks having stringcourses, cornice capping and decorative brown clay pots over, decorative timber bargeboards with finials to gable apexes, and cast-iron rainwater goods; cast-iron balustrades to canted bays to front elevation. Painted smooth rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth, block-and-start quoins to corners of advanced bays, raised plinth, render stringcourse at first floor level, and with decorative rendered rectangular panels to canted bays and to porch; render roundel motif to gable apex of porch. Raised coping to porch and moulded eaves cornice to bowed window to north-east elevation. Square-headed window openings with rendered architrave surrounds, painted sills, and one-over-one pane horned timber sliding sash windows; round-headed window to gablet\half-dormer opening having rendered architraved surround and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash window. Square-headed door opening to front face of porch having timber panelled double-doors, and sidelights with coloured glass panels; inner glazed timber doors with decorative glazed sidelights and overlight with ornate timber tracery, and encaustic tiled floor to porch. Set back from road in own grounds to the south-west of the centre of Buncrana with gardens to front and rear of site. Rubble stone boundary wall to road-frontage with cement coping and iron uprights over linked by chains (obscured by hedge) to the south. Gateway to the south-east corner of site comprising a pair of rendered gate piers (on square-plan) having projecting plinth, stringcourses and pyramidal coping over, and with a pair of replacement metal gates.
Appraisal
This distinctive and well-detailed symmetrical house, of early twentieth-century date, retains its early form and character despite modern alterations and extensions. Its visual appeal and integrity is enhanced by the retention of salient fabric such as the timber sliding sash windows and slate roof. The front elevation is enlivened by the decorative elements including intricate timber bargeboards, cast-iron balustrades over the canted bay windows, terracotta ridge cresting, and by the attractive timber tracery to the sidelights and overlights of the inner doorway to porch. The gable-fronted projections and the canted bay windows are features of many buildings of its type and date Ireland. Although of a different scale, it is very similar in composition to the adjoining property to the west (see 40815013). It dates from the period when Buncrana was an important seaside resort, frequented by the middle classes of Derry, particularly after the opening of the railway line to the town in 1864. It is one of a number of substantial houses and villas built in this part of Buncrana during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. Set back from the road, its elevated position makes it something of a landmark on the main approach into Buncrana from the south, and it is an integral element of the built heritage of the town. The simple gateway adds to the setting and context, and completes this charming composition.