Union Lodge, 21 Ballymatoskerty Road, Toomebridge, Co Antrim, BT41 3PS

Union Lodge is a detached two-storey Georgian farmhouse located west of Ballymatoskerty Road in Toomebridge. Built between 1834 and 1837 at a cost of £1000, it is an attractive and well-maintained example of rural Georgian architecture arranged symmetrically across three bays.

The house is rectangular on plan with a single-storey extension to the north and a two-storey extension to the south gable, abutted by a single-storey lean-to glazed extension. The walls are of random rubble blackstone. The pitched slate roof has four brick chimneys and a skylight to the centre of the west side.

The principal elevation faces east and comprises a central canted porch with a window either side. The porch is single-storey with a flat roof, timber-framed and constructed on a brick plinth, and was replaced c.1990 to match the original. It features a distinctive geometric motif which gives the house its recognisable character. Windows to the first floor include one to each bay. Throughout the main house, windows are timber-framed 8/8 sliding sash with horns, with brick surrounds and voussoirs and painted masonry cills.

The south gable elevation has a small replacement uPVC window to attic level and contains a 3/6 sliding sash window to first floor and a 3/9 casement window to ground floor. Various extensions have been added; a two-storey roughcast gable-ended extension contains a 2/2 exposed box timber sliding-sash window at first floor and replacement uPVC windows. A lean-to uPVC greenhouse extends to the right. A lower roughcast outbuilding is connected via a random rubble extension with uPVC window and timber sheeted door surmounted by an original casement window.

The rear west elevation has a replacement timber sliding-sash window at ground floor divided by timber mullion into two 3/6 arrangements, with no brick surround, and a timber-panelled entrance door to the south sheltered by a slated canopy. Two 6/6 sliding-sash windows are located to first floor. This elevation is abutted by a two-storey outbuilding with hipped roof and roughcast walling.

A range of one and two-storey multiple-bay outbuildings stands to the west, arranged around a concrete farmyard, with slated pitched roofs, random rubble walls with brick detailing, timber sheeted doors and replacement uPVC guttering. These outbuildings, together with a modern farmyard beyond, contribute to the integrity of the rural setting.

The site is accessed through double-leaf wrought-iron gates in cast iron piers attached to random rubble walling at the north-west corner. The boundary to Ballymatoskerty Road comprises a random rubble stone wall with masonry pillars and wrought iron gate, with hedging to the east and south.

Guttering and downpipes are u-profile cast iron.

The house was originally named Union Hall, the name deriving from the Union Linen business from which the first owner, Robert Davison, made his money. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows the building had a return to the south-west corner and a single outbuilding to the rear; the farm has been enlarged with additional outbuildings since then.

In 1839 the house was occupied by Jacob Green, uncle of the celebrated Ulster photographer W. A. Green. Green photographed himself in the house and took many of his photographs, held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, in the vicinity of the building. The house stood on the edge of Lord O'Neill's Estate, near Ballymatoskerty Corn Mill.

Although recent external alterations have been carried out, the results are sympathetic to the original fabric and layout, making this a well-maintained example of a rural Georgian farmhouse in County Antrim.