Survey Data
Reg No
40909426
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
House
Date
1850 - 1870
Coordinates
195930, 378648
Date Recorded
13/09/2007
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c. 1860. Pitched natural slate roof having terracotta ridge tiles, cast-iron rainwater goods, and with smooth rendered ruled-and-line chimneystacks to the gable ends (south-west and north-east). Roughcast rendered walls to the main elevation (south-east) having smooth rendered plinth to base and smooth rendered block-and-start quoins to the corners. Roughcast rendered walls to the rear over rubble stone construction. Irregularly-spaced square-headed window openings having stone sills, and with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows; plain rendered surrounds to window openings to the front elevation. Square-headed doorway, offset slightly to the south-west of centre, having plain rendered surround, plinth blocks to base, replacement battened timber doors, and with plain overlight. Set back from road in own grounds to the east of Donegal Town centre. Gravel yards to the front and rear; mature gardens to site with mature cypress trees, rhododendrons and hydrangea. Short gravel approach avenue to house from road to the south. Single-storey outbuildings to the rear of site (north) having pitched corrugated-metal roofs, whitewashed rubble stone wall, and square-headed doorways.
Appraisal
This charming and well-maintained house/farmhouse retains its original character and salient fabric such as the natural slate roof, stone plinth blocks to the doorways, and the timber sliding sash windows. This picturesque building could be viewed as a late nineteenth-century vernacular interpretation of a typical well-proportioned three-bay two-storey house with more formal architectural aspirations. The plain raised render surrounds to the openings, the plinth to the base and the render block-and-start quoins add some decorative interest to the otherwise plain front elevation. This building at Drummeeny Middle represents a fine surviving example of its type and date in rural Ireland, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area, making a positive contribution to its pleasing rural location to the east of Donegal Town.