Survey Data
Reg No
40910319
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
House
In Use As
House
Date
1880 - 1910
Coordinates
186001, 366462
Date Recorded
13/11/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey house built c. 1900, having two-bay single storey flat roofed extension to the south-west. Restored and extended to rear (south-east) c. 2006. Pitched natural slate roof with raised rendered coping and a central pair of smooth rendered chimneystacks with replacement terracotta pots over. Modern rooflights to the rear pitch (north-west) and flat roofs to extensions. Smooth rendered ruled-and-lined walls over projecting plinth, square-headed former window opening to east elevation at attic level. Square-headed window openings with replacement six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows with painted sills. Modern windows to extension to the rear (north-west). Central round-headed doorway to the front elevation having replacement timber panelled door, replacement surround of engaged timber colonnettes, and replacement petal fanlight over. Set back from the road with garden to site. Located adjacent to cliff face with panoramic views over Belalt Strand to the north and over Donegal Bay to the north-west. Modern wall and gateway to road-frontage to the south-east.
Appraisal
This well-proportioned house has been recently and tastefully renovated. Although the fittings to the openings have been replaced they are in keeping with the character and integrity of this attractive small-scale house. The sophisticated doorcase with wide petal fanlight over provides an appealing central focus to this house. According to local information, this building (and its altered neighbour adjacent to the south-west) was reputedly built as a holiday home by one of the managers involved in the Ballyshannon to Donegal Town railway line, which was built by the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee and opened in 1905. This building dates to a period when Rossnowlagh was starting to become a fashionable holiday destination, and this house is one of a number of houses of a similar date in this area. This house occupies an impressive cliff top site with panoramic views over Donegal Bay and Belalt Strand, and is an addition to the built heritage of the local area.