Fruitvale, 11 Ballykeel Road, Aghagallon, Co. Armagh, BT67 9JU

Fruitvale is a long, relatively plain two-storey gable-ended linear farmhouse with an asymmetrical front elevation, located on the south-west side of Ballykeel Road, 1.1 kilometres east of Aghagallon, County Armagh. Its present form results from a two-phase heightening of a pre-1832 single-storey thatched dwelling, with works undertaken in the late 19th century and around the 1920s.

The main section is rectangular in plan, two-storey, gable-ended with an overhanging slate roof and whitewashed roughcast façade. A single-storey off-centre gabled porch projects from the front, finished to match the main block. To the north-west is a single-storey lean-to garage with similar finishes. To the rear are two full-height extensions that abut each other; the north-western extension dates from after 1965 and is of no particular interest, whilst the other appears to be late 19th-century, shallower in plan with roof and façade matching the main block. A small single-storey lean-to projection adjoins this. The main roof carries four symmetrically arranged yellow brick chimneystacks; roof goods appear to be cast-iron.

The front elevation is asymmetrical. To the left of centre stands the porch with entrance to its south-east face and a window to the north-east. The entrance door dates from around 1970 and is panelled timber, whilst the window has a plain 1/1 timber sash frame with painted stone sill. To the left of the porch at ground level are two similar windows, with four more to the right, and six more at first-floor level. Six windows have been boarded over but likely retain their frames; the remaining windows match the porch window type except that immediately left of the porch, which has a recently installed PVC frame. The south-east gable is featureless. The north-west gable features a mid to late 20th-century timber garage door to its north-east side and a window with a 3/6 timber sash frame to the north-west.

The rear elevation includes a post-1965 return to the left. The earlier return has two ground-floor windows set at slightly differing levels, both with fixed-light PVC frames, and a similar window on the south-east side of the ground floor. The first floor on the south-west side has a window matching those in the garage, with a small squat window near the gable apex, presumably serving an attic level, and a fixed-light timber frame. The lean-to has a window with a 3/3 timber sash frame, whilst above it, on the main section, is a window typical of those on the front elevation, with one to each floor to the far right.

A large late 20th-century flat-roofed full-height extension stands to the rear.

The setting is rural, with an extensive garden to the north-east, west and south-west sides, fringed with mature trees and enclosed from the roadside by a low rendered wall with decorative wrought-iron railings. A farmyard lies to the east and south, containing an informal arrangement of outbuildings of various dates, sizes and construction. A recessed gate screen with quadrant walls leads into a short drive to the house front, which has a small forecourt. A tall rendered wall runs parallel to the drive.

The most noteworthy outbuilding is a long storey-and-a-half to two-storey gable-ended structure to the west side of the yard, closest to the house, which may be of pre-1832 construction. It is partly finished in painted roughcast and partly bare rubble, with a slated roof and several door and window openings visible to the north-east gable and north-west side. A small single-storey building immediately east of this appears to be later 19th-century, though now has a corrugated-iron roof and is joined to a large barn further east, which appears to be mid to late 20th-century.

Historical development: A long building matching the main section of the present house appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The 1834 valuation records it as a 'not new' thatched dwelling measuring 62 feet by 18½ feet by 7 feet, occupied by Margaret Magill (or McGill), with associated outbuildings comprising a thatched 'barn etc.' of 47 by 20½ by 9 feet, a 'stable etc.' of 19½ by 20½ by 7 feet, and a byre of 35 by 14½ by 5½ feet. The revised 1857 OS map shows a similar plan, though no dimensions are recorded in the c.1860 valuation. The rateable value in c.1860 was roughly the same as in 1834 (£4-2-6 as opposed to £4-5-0), suggesting no substantial change to the building between these dates. This rate remained constant until at least 1928, by which time the house had assumed much of its present two-storey form.

The 1901 census records the structure as slated with 8 rooms and 9 windows to the front, indicating enlargement had occurred by that point. The property had adopted the name 'Fruitvale' by 1900, suggesting a degree of upgrading and gentrification from its 1830s form. It is likely that by the beginning of the 20th century, the section between the first and third chimneys (viewed from the front) had been raised, with a gabled projection added to the rear. Map evidence indicates the remainder was heightened sometime after 1920, possibly not long after. The larger rear extension is post-1965.

From at least c.1860 the property was in the hands of Robert Ellis. Thomas Ellis acquired the freehold from the Hertford estate in or just before 1894. The 1901 census records Thomas as a 58-year-old farmer living here with his wife Sarah, their three children, a nephew William G. Hillis (noted as assistant farmer), a farm hand and a domestic servant. The 1911 census records Mr and Mrs Ellis, their now grown-up but unmarried children and Mr Hillis as occupants. The property appears to have remained with descendants of the Ellis family but seems to have been vacated around 2022.