23 Main Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OEP

23 Main Street, Limavady, is a three-storey, three-bay terraced house on the south-east side of Main Street, dating from the mid-19th century. It forms part of a substantial group of pre-1830 buildings and sits adjacent to the Roebuck Inn.

The façade is brick on the ground floor and smooth rendered above. A modern flat-roofed dormer projects from the slate roof. Cast iron rainwater goods run down the elevation. The first and second floors have PVC windows in a twelve-pane Georgian pattern with painted stone cills. The ground floor features a modern shopfront with a single-pane window and integral glazed entrance door, topped by a modern painted timber sign.

The most architecturally significant feature is the fine Georgian doorway to the south-west end of the façade, which aligns with the windows above. This comprises Tuscan columns without decorative bases but with stone plinths, supporting a decorative entablature that breaks forward over the column heads. Above sits a finely detailed segmental cobweb fanlight, a design type associated with the 1790s when curved glazing bars began to incorporate radiating designs, though such fashions may have reached Limavady later. The six-panelled hardwood door has brass furniture and a stained finish, though neither the door nor furniture are believed to be original. The door-case is recessed within the brick façade, with rendered and painted jambs.

To the rear, the walls are completely rendered. The windows are PVC, with one aligned set dropping to light the stair inside. A three-storey return projects into the yard. A former stable block at the end of the plot has been converted into a shop with storage above, now selling computers, with its façade facing onto the Department of the Environment car park.

The building appears on the 1831 Ordnance Survey map, though the rear return appears longer and thinner than at present. The 1848 map shows the return more as it exists today. The 1858 Griffiths Valuation records a £19 valuation, indicating a substantial building. The lessor was Mr S Thompson, who also rented number 25 adjacent, while the occupant was J Davis. The building was occupied by North West Books from the early 1900s until 1980, when it was purchased by the current owner.

The building has suffered inappropriate alterations to the front interior and rear that significantly diminish its interest as a historic structure.