Survey Data
Reg No
40901817
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
House
Date
1850 - 1900
Coordinates
229762, 439689
Date Recorded
10/10/2008
Date Updated
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Description
Detached six-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1875, having windbreak porch to front elevation. Pitched corrugated asbestos roof, smooth rendered chimneystacks to gable ends with additional chimneystack west of east gable and rendered gable coping. Smooth rendered and white washed walls. Square-headed window openings with two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed door opening to porch with battened timber door. Shed with pitched corrugated-metal roof and smooth rendered walls to west gable of house. Set at the side of the road with farm buildings to the west.
Appraisal
Although no longer in use as a dwelling, this relatively intact example of a vernacular house retains its early form and character, and is an appealing feature in the scenic rural landscape to the north-west of Buncrana. Its integrity is enhanced by the retention of much of its salient fabric including timber sliding sash windows and a battened timber door. The corrugated roof cladding suggests that it was formerly\originally thatched, and its reinstatement would add greatly to the visual appeal of this building. Modest in scale, it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. It retains many characteristic of the vernacular tradition in the area including windbreak porch, outbuilding attached to gable end, and irregularly-spaced openings. The form of this building and location of the chimneystacks suggests that this building is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland, and also that the house was extended along its length to the east at some stage. Sensitively restored, this building would make a strongly positive contribution to its pleasant rural location, and would be an integral element of the built heritage of the local area.