Survey Data
Reg No
40815060
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
House
In Use As
House
Date
1890 - 1910
Coordinates
234832, 431925
Date Recorded
09/10/2008
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1900, having single-storey canted bay window to the south end of the front elevation with gable-fronted breakfront over supported on timber brackets, and with central two-storey return to the rear (east). Pitched natural slate roof with exposed timber rafter ends, timber bargeboards to gable, terracotta ridge tiles, two red brick chimneystacks with terracotta pots, and with cast-iron rainwater goods. Painted brick walls over smooth rendered plinth to the front (west) and south elevations, smooth rendered walls to other elevations. Single- and paired squared-headed window openings to front elevation having one-over-one pane horned timber sliding sash windows, continuous sill courses, and with leaded coloured glass to upper sashes to ground floor openings. Central square-headed door opening with timber panelled double-doors and with leaded coloured glass overlight. Set within own grounds with mature grounds to site, located to the south-west of the centre of Buncrana. Site bounded ion road-frontage to the west by rendered boundary wall having wrought-iron railings over to southern half with cast-iron over. Vehicular gateway to the south-west corner of site having decorative cast-iron gate-posts and wrought-iron gates with cast-iron detailing; pedestrian gateway to the centre of boundary wall having decorative cast-iron gate-posts and wrought-iron gates with cast-iron detailing. Two single-storey outbuildings to the rear (east) having rendered walls and mono-pitched roofs.
Appraisal
This well-maintained two-storey house, of late nineteenth or early-twentieth century date retains its early form and character. Its visual expression is enhanced by the retention of salient fabric such as the natural slate roof and the timber sliding sash windows. The form of the sash windows to the ground floor is particularly attractive with leaded coloured glass panels to the upper sashes. This building is similar in composition to its fine near neighbour to the north (see 40815059) with an advanced gable-fronted bay supported on brackets over a canted bay window, albeit without the same level of decorative flourishes as found to this other building. This building originally dates from the period when Buncrana was a popular seaside resort, frequented by the middle classes of Derry, particularly following the opening of the railway line to the town in 1864. Its forms part of an interesting group of substantial houses and villas built to the west and south-west of Buncrana during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. This building is an integral element of the architectural heritage of Buncrana, and is an attractive feature in the streetscape to the south-west of the town centre.