Survey Data
Reg No
40907719
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
House
Date
1810 - 1850
Coordinates
206800, 395637
Date Recorded
10/01/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1830, having central projecting canted windbreak porch to the front elevation (south-east), and with attached to two-storey two-bay outbuilding to the north-west gable end having external flight of stone steps giving access to doorway at first floor level. Now out of use. Pitched natural slate roof (small Scottish? slate) having rendered chimneystacks to gable ends (north-east and south-west), and with remains of cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth course, and with smooth rendered block-and-start quoins to the corners. Square-headed window opening with two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed door opening to front face of porch having battened timber door, and with stone plinth blocks. Two-bay two-storey outbuilding attached to the north-east gable end having pitched natural slate roof with projecting stone eaves course, limewashed rubble stone walls, and square-headed doorways with remains of battened timber doors. Set back from road in own grounds to the west of Ballybofey, and to the south of Altnapaste. Yard to front of house (south\south-east). Detached three-bay single-storey outbuilding to the south-west\south of site having corrugated-metal roof, limewashed rubble stone walls, and square-headed doorways with remains of timber fittings; single-storey mono-pitched projection annexes to either gable end. Gateway to the north-east comprising a pair of rubble stone gate piers (on square-plan) and with a pair of wrought-iron gates.
Appraisal
This modest but well-proportioned house\farmhouse, of probable mid-nineteenth-century dates, retains its early form and character despite being no longer occupied. Its visual expression and integrity is enhanced by the retention of much of its original fabric including timber sliding sash windows, while the natural slate roof with small slates (Scottish?) gives this building quite a picturesque appearance. The plain front elevation is enhanced by the simple smooth rendered quoins and plinth course. The canted windbreak porch is an interesting feature that is found on a number of vernacular houses (generally single-storey structures) in the area. The form of this building with chimneystacks to the gable ends suggests that this building may be of the ‘direct-entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in the north-west of Ireland, and hints that this building may have been originally single-storey with the first floor added later. The attached outbuilding to the north-east also survives in good condition and is an interesting example of its type and date. This outbuilding has an external staircase giving access to a doorway at first floor level, which is a feature of many outbuildings in County Donegal. The detached outbuilding to site and the simple gateway to the north-east complete the setting and add to the context of this composition, which is an element of the built heritage of the local area.