Lakeview House, 194 Gilford Road, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, BT66 7AH

Lakeview House was a substantial country residence built circa 1858–62, possibly to designs of Thomas Jackson, located at 194 Gilford Road, Lurgan, County Armagh. The building was demolished in October 2018.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map depicts the building as a rectangular block with returns and an L-shaped range to the south-west, recorded under plot number 3 with a valuation of £7, later revised to £11, on approximately 15 acres with a land value exceeding £20. In Griffiths Valuation of 1861, Lakeview House is assigned plot number 15a in the townland of Cornreany and was occupied by Francis Watson, leased from Alexander Stewart. Francis Watson leased the entire demesne, which comprised 13 additional estate buildings, all sub-let to various tenants. The property, comprising house, offices and land, was initially valued at £32, with later amendments indicating substantial improvements during the 1860s or 70s, when the value was revised to £67 following the addition of a gate lodge. The entire estate comprised 73 acres with buildings valued at £127 and 15 shillings.

According to architectural historian K. Rankin, the house was a five-bay two-storey structure with cement facing and sash windows. The building featured intricate plasterwork in the main reception rooms. Rankin suggests the present house was built circa 1870 on the site of Francis Watson's original residence.

Francis Watson (1809–1879) was the eldest son of Robert Watson (1776–1848), a linen merchant of Ballyblagh, County Armagh. The family business, Robert Watson & Sons, operated from The Flush, Lurgan, and was dissolved following Robert Watson's death, though the business continued under the same name. The Watson family were noted for upholding good welfare standards for employees. The company may have operated one of Ireland's earliest hand loom factories, founded in 1808. Lurgan was a major centre of linen production in the nineteenth century.

By 1888, Francis, Thomas and Joseph Watson were recorded living at Lakeview with their sisters. The 1901 Census records Francis Watson, aged 55, a magistrate and linen manufacturer, as head of the household, living with four sisters and two brothers, none of whom were married. The property was registered as a first class dwelling of masonry construction with twelve windows in the façade and thirteen or more rooms. Thirty-six outbuildings were recorded, including 2 stables, 1 coach house, 1 harness room, 2 cow houses, 3 calf houses, 1 dairy, 2 piggeries, 2 fowl houses, 1 boiling house, 1 barn, 1 potato house, a shed, and sixteen other ancillary buildings, indicating a substantial agricultural and commercial holding.

Thomas Watson, son of Francis, continued the business and occupied Lakeview until his death in 1923. The family remained in occupation until the mid-1950s. The house was advertised for sale circa 2017 and was subsequently demolished in October 2018. Estate documents and diaries relating to Francis Watson, held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, include testamentary papers of 1877 and miscellaneous papers and diaries spanning 1874–1907, though these documents were recorded as "not found" at the time of writing.