Knockan House, 9 Killunaght Road, Dungiven, Co Londonderry, BT47 4TU

Knockan House is a fine late Georgian gentleman's residence, built around 1789, which has been substantially enlarged and improved during the 19th century to excellent architectural effect. The house stands in a pleasant, secluded landscaped garden in splendid countryside near the Owenbeg river and Knockan bridge.

The main building is 2½ storeys high and 5 bays wide, with gabled ends, flanked by 1½ storey gabled wings set slightly back from the main plane. All surfaces are finished with natural slate roofing. The walls are harled, though now largely covered in climbing plants which contribute to the picturesque character of the house.

The south-east elevation serves as the principal façade and entrance front. A central 6-fielded panel door with a semi-circular fanlight without subdivision is flanked by narrow pilasters and a cornice. On either side of the door stand 2 twelve-pane sliding sash windows with low sandstone cills and exposed sash boxes. The first floor above has 5 twelve-pane sliding sash windows positioned directly above the openings below. Projecting eaves with returned details on each gable are carried on longish block dentil brackets supporting a metal gutter. The 1½ storey wings, one bay long, each contain a single twelve-pane sliding sash window positioned with its cill almost at floor level.

The gabled ends feature chimneys, with the wing gables displaying 2 nine-pane sliding sash windows to the attic floor, whilst the main block gables carry 2 twelve-pane sliding sash windows. The north-west wing barges are asymmetrical, with the north-west slope continuing down to cover a rear passage finished with a cement barge.

The south-west gable opens through French windows onto a small terrace overlooking an enclosed and secluded garden. Above these doors stand 2 nine-pane sliding sash windows to the attic floor. This gable is notably smothered in creeper. The north-east gable features a rear porch projection with a panelled back door providing access from the farmyard.

The rear and north-west elevation displays an irregular arrangement of windows with single and two-storey shallow returns that do not obscure the staircase window, a twelve-pane sliding sash. A dormer window to the south-west contains French doors. Walls in these areas are harled with some recent repairs around the rear returns.

The house is accessed via a straight gravel avenue from the Feeny Road, with decorative metal entrance gates set back slightly from the road verge and flanked by clipped hedges. A random rubble boundary wall of field stones, stated to date from the 17th century, encloses one side of the south-west garden.

The garden is of considerable quality and appearance, containing a variety of mature trees and shrubs and a good lawn. Among the specimens are a 300-year-old holly and a 200-year-old weeping beech, some of rare varieties. The garden is occasionally opened to the public.

A single-storey outbuilding stands to the rear of the house, notable for its large open brick fireplace with irons, having formerly served as an outside kitchen and laundry.

Historical development records that the townland of Knockan was held in 1641 by Rory McShane O'Cahan, subsequently passing to the Carey family and, after 1743, to Adam Downing, son of a Dublin solicitor. At the time of the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, the proprietor was Captain Nesbit Downey. The Ordnance Survey Map of 1830 shows a smaller house with outbuildings, whilst the revised map of 1856 shows considerable extension including the north-east wing. The main block appears to have taken its present form between 1830 and 1856, with the south-west wing added subsequently. The single-storey outbuilding appears on both maps. The house remained largely unchanged until the late 20th century, when the drawing room was enlarged and a dormer window was formed. The Ordnance Survey Memoir dates the main body of the house to 1789, though it notes that an eastern wing dates from the reign of James I.

Adjacent to the house on the north-west side are farm outbuildings. The house benefits from its pleasant and secluded position, particularly following the award-winning realignment of the Feeny Road. The property is listed to the extent of the house, garden wall, gates, gate piers, and boundary walls.