Rose Cottage, 85 Aghanloo Road, Aghanloo, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 0HY

Rose Cottage is an unusually large and well-preserved thatched house of national architectural importance, situated in a sheltered location between Aghanloo Church of Ireland and the old graveyard. Built circa 1780-1799, it represents a largely unaltered example of a substantial tenant farmer's residence from around 1830 in County Londonderry, and retains considerable local and social significance.

The house is a large vernacular structure facing west at a slight angle to Aghanloo Road. The principal elevation displays formality suggesting classical influence, with four two-pane sliding sash windows equally spaced to either side of a centrally placed entrance door, which is sheltered by an open timber lattice work porch added in the early 1900s. The walls are painted white with a black base line, and stone cills and window jambs are also black. The thatch abuts the gable, with a projecting slate drip at the change from gable to wall and saw-tooth brick laid on edge along the junction of wall and thatch.

Four chimneys sit on the apex of the roof, two on the gables and two on either side of the entrance. The roof timberwork is original. The thatch comprises both flax and wheat. The southern gable has no opening, whilst the east elevation features two four-pane sash windows near the south end. The north elevation has one small four-pane sash window positioned off-centre at low level.

The building is constructed of basalt with brick trim in the northern half and brick in the southern half, indicating an extension of four bays from the original building. The structure appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1831 and is certainly considerably older than that date. Historical valuations record the property circa 1833 as the home of Mrs Church with a rateable value of £7-7-0, and by 1857 it was occupied by Charles Allen with John Martin Esq as immediate lessor, its valuation then standing at £5-10-0. These relatively high valuations for the period suggest the building had assumed its current form prior to circa 1833.

The entrance corridor and the door to the kitchen with its side window merit preservation as typical vernacular details of the area. Of particular note are the unusual fireplaces positioned in the corners of rooms, a detail also found in the lodge at Milltown. The plan has been altered and much original detail removed. Until the 1930s, an attic storey served as bedrooms, lit by gable windows which are now blocked.

The building underwent major renovation in 1996, when a flat-roofed extension was added, replacing a lean-to structure with an asbestos roof. This extension projects approximately four metres from beneath the thatch and extends approximately two-thirds the length of the original building. It features PVC guttering, a felt roof, and casement windows detailed to resemble sashes when closed. The internal layout was reorganised at this time.

The porch was added in the early 1900s and is reportedly based on similar structures the then-occupant had observed in America. The present owner's family have owned the house since circa 1900, prior to which it was in the hands of Dr McCloskey and was known as 'The Manor House'. Local tradition claims that Frederick Hervey, the Earl Bishop of Derry (1730-1803, Bishop of Derry from 1768), stayed in the house in the 1790s, though no evidence substantiates this account.

The setting comprises a triangular courtyard behind the house formed by whitewashed barn buildings with corrugated iron roofs and a concreted surface. A lawn to the front of the house rises approximately 700 millimetres above the road level, dropping down steeply to the carriageway at its end. A path below the lawn level rises from the road to the front door, enhancing the character of this part of Aghanloo Road.