78 Drumsaragh Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 5XR

78 Drumsaragh Road is a symmetrical, one-and-a-half-storey detached farmhouse constructed around 1888–1890, situated on the west side of Drumsaragh Road to the north-west of Kilrea, County Londonderry. It sits within large mature gardens and wooded land, and is listed along with its outbuildings, gates, and entrance piers.

The house has a rectangular plan with a central two-storey return to the rear, flanking single-storey lean-to structures filling the re-entrant angles, and a single-storey extension to the west of the main elevation. The walls are finished in smooth painted ruled-and-lined render with plain reveals and surrounds and painted stone sills. The pitched slate roof is topped with black angled ridge-tiles and brick chimneys to the gable ends with decorative clay pots. The projecting eaves are carried on profiled masonry brackets and a string course, with a plain timber fascia and half-round cast-iron rainwater goods (with some uPVC replacements). Decorative bargeboards are fitted to all gables, including those of the extensions.

The south-facing principal elevation is five openings wide. At its centre, stone steps lead up to a doorcase with a segmental-arched head, embraced by an advanced gabled stucco surround on panelled pilasters. The timber panelled entrance door is flanked by plain glass sidelights and topped by a plain glass pointed fanlight. To each side of the doorcase are two replacement one-over-one sliding sash windows with slightly projecting stucco surrounds having profiled heads, though these are partly obscured by vegetation. A central dormer window breaks through the eaves at attic level and is fitted with a canopy and bargeboards.

The west gable has two windows at first-floor level. Abutting it is a single-storey modern extension built in a traditional style, with two sash windows to its gable and a chimney above; its right side has three timber-and-glass doors, and its left side has two small square windows.

The rear elevation is largely blank where exposed, being abutted by the gabled central return and the lean-to additions at the re-entrant angles. The rear return has a modern window insertion to the right side of its gable. Its right side has two small first-floor windows; its left side has a four-over-four window to the ground floor. The left side of the return has a four-over-four window at first-floor level, a six-over-six window below it, and a diminutive casement window to the left at first-floor level. The east lean-to is lit by a one-over-one sash window; the west lean-to has a timber sheeted door and a timber casement window. The east gable has two first-floor windows and a single ground-floor window to the right.

The building has been progressively enlarged over the decades, reflecting the changing needs and prosperity of its occupants. Despite these additions and the use of replacement fabric, the character and proportion of the original farmhouse have largely been retained.

Setting and approach

The farmhouse sits in a rural setting concealed from the road by mature trees. Access is from the west side of Drumsaragh Road through a pair of rendered octagonal gate piers with conical caps and curved half-height walls to either side, hung with cast-iron gates. A bifurcated gravel driveway leads from here: the right fork serves the main elevation and the left fork leads to the rear and outbuildings through a similar set of gate piers supporting timber gates. Gardens lie to the east and south with heavy planting surrounding the site. A paved perimeter path runs around the east elevation to the rear. A secondary rear entrance to the north is flanked by two round coursed-rubble piers with conical capping stones, similar cast-iron gates, and a half-height rubble wall flanking a gravel path to the rear of the building. The gateway entrance piers were repositioned and rebuilt at some point, as recorded in the heritage file.

Outbuildings

A range of stone outbuildings lies to the west of the farmhouse. The largest is a one-and-a-half-storey former coach house and stable to the north-west, with a pitched re-slated roof, coursed-rubble walling, and uPVC rainwater goods. It has large segmental-headed timber sheeted doors to the centre, flanked by further timber sheeted doors with some camber-arched brick surrounds, a small four-light window to the left side, and a ground-floor window to the east gable. A lower single-storey outbuilding of similar construction abuts its west gable and has a centrally placed flat-arched timber sheeted and reinforced stable door, two louvred openings above on either side, and a stone fore-stair to the west gable. A mono-pitched building of similar walling abuts further to the west, with a single timber sheeted and braced door to the centre.

Directly west of the main house stands a detached two-storey outbuilding with an external stair, a re-slated pitched roof, similar rubble walling, and brick surrounds. It has large double-leaf timber doors to the right with a long timber lintel, and double-leaf timber-and-glazed doors to a first-floor balcony surrounded by decorative metal balusters. This outbuilding has been remodelled for use as additional residential accommodation. A small single-storey mono-pitched structure of rubble construction abuts its left gable, with a half-height wall in front, a timber-lintelled and -jambered small doorway, and the remains of a previous structure to the left.

History

Construction records indicate the house was completed in 1888, when it first appeared in the Annual Revisions (1884–97) alongside a number of outbuildings. Between 1884 and 1887 the same records had described it as unfinished. The building and outbuildings appear on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1905, though physical evidence supports a mid-to-late 19th century date. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1830 shows farm buildings on the site, but none of these appear to have survived beyond the 1850s. The second edition map of 1853 shows a building corresponding to the location of the rear return of the current house and the nearest outbuilding; these were either substantially remodelled in the late 19th century, or demolished and replaced on the existing foundations.

According to the Annual Revisions of 1867–84, the house, land, and associated buildings were owned by James Johnston, a farmer recorded in the 1901 census, who leased out three houses each valued at £0 5s. Before his purchase of the land in 1872, it had belonged to the Marquis of Waterford's estate. In 1867, the previous main house and its associated buildings were valued at £1 10s; by 1888 this had risen significantly to £7, reflecting the construction or remodelling of the existing farmhouse. The value remained unchanged until the First General Revaluation of 1935, when it declined to £2 10s.

During the latter half of the 19th century the range of outbuildings to the west was expanded and completed by the time of the 1905 Ordnance Survey; their arrangement has changed little since and they remain in use as stables and outbuildings. The Annual Revisions of 1898–1929 record that Mary Johnston, a widow, became head of the household in 1909 and was succeeded by her son, Dr James T. Johnston, in 1916. The Johnston family continued to own and occupy the house until the late 20th century.

Since its construction, the farmhouse has undergone several alterations. Two single-storey mono-pitched extensions were added during the 20th century, placed to either side of the rear return. The eastern extension replaced an earlier morning room and was built on its existing foundations. A further pitched-roof extension was added to the south-west in more recent decades. The building fabric has been subject to repair and renovation, the outbuildings were re-roofed in the late 20th century, and the entrance piers were repositioned and rebuilt.