95 Mill Road, Portstewart, County Londonderry, BT55 7PQ

95 Mill Road, Portstewart, County Londonderry

This was a single-storey vernacular house with attic, of probable pre-1830 construction, located on the northwest side of Mill Road less than a mile southeast of Portstewart town centre. The house was extended to the southwest end perhaps around 1870, and gained a gabled porch and dormers probably around 1900, along with a mid-20th century rear extension. The property has since been demolished; the exact date of demolition is unknown, though it was reported by a member of the public in July 2011.

The house stood in the townland of Galvally, set back from the road with a garden to front and rear and outbuildings to the southwest side. Until relatively recently the surrounding land was open fields, but by the time of assessment the area had become heavily built up with dwellings of around 1970s vintage and later, whose pervasive presence had reduced the house to something of a curiosity in its setting.

The main body of the house was finished in painted roughcast and had a gabled, slated roof with clay ridge tiles and rendered parapets. The later extension, which appears to have been built in sections, was partly finished in painted cement render and had a felted roof, mainly of lean-to form.

The front elevation faced roughly southeast and was asymmetrical. To the right of centre projected the gabled porch. On the porch's southwest face was the main entrance, fitted with a panelled timber door. On the southeast (gabled) face of the porch was a window with a horned timber sash frame with vertical glazing bars, two panes over two, with louvred shutters attached to either side. On the northeast face of the porch was a slightly larger window with a multi-pane fixed timber frame of twelve Georgian-proportioned panes. The porch roof was covered in a man-made slate-like tile, had a slight overhang, and was finished with decorative bargeboards.

To the far left of the front elevation was a doorway fitted with a recent panelled and glazed timber door. To its right were two windows similar to the one on the southeast face of the porch, also with louvred shutters. To the right of the porch were two further similar windows, though only the rightmost had shutters.

Three small gabled dormers were symmetrically arranged on the front roof slope. Each had a recent timber frame to the front and glazed sides, a slated roof, and plain bargeboards.

Three rendered ridge chimneystacks were present: one to each gable and a third positioned to the southwest of centre. Rainwater goods were a mixture of cast iron and PVC-u. A relatively recent flat-roofed shed stood immediately to the north of the house.

The northeast gable was devoid of openings. A relatively tall wall extended from the left edge of this gable, flush with the front façade, and contained a doorway with a timber-sheeted door and a small window-like recess to its left.

On the rear elevation, to the left on the ground floor, was a square window with a horned double-sash frame, each sash with one pane over one. To the right of this was a slightly taller and narrower window with a recent timber frame. Directly above each of these windows, abutting the eaves, was a small window, each with recent timber frames. The rear extension occupied the right-hand side of the rear elevation. On its northwest face was a doorway with a partly glazed timber door flanked by two windows with relatively recent timber frames. On its southwest face was another window with a horned timber sash frame, one pane over one.

Attached to the southwest gable was a large single-storey L-shaped outbuilding. The section abutting the house was older, possibly contemporary with the original house, while the remaining portion — lying on a southeast-to-northwest axis — appeared to be largely of mid-20th century construction. The older section was finished in a similar manner to the house. Its front façade had, from left to right: a window with a fixed six-pane timber frame, a doorway with a timber-sheeted door, another six-pane fixed-frame window, a doorway with a panelled and glazed timber door, and a small four-pane fixed-frame window at the far right. On the rear northwest façade of this section was a small fixed-frame window of three panes. The gabled roof of this section matched that of the house and had two small skylights on the southeast side.

A house matching the plan of the present building (but without the outbuilding set at a right angle to the southwest) is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1830, though it was not noted in the contemporary valuation. A similar building appears on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map and is recorded in the valuation of that year as measuring 33 feet by 18 feet by 10 feet, with outbuildings measuring 45 by 18 by 7 feet and 30 by 17 by 6 feet, the latter thatched. These dimensions suggest that the southwest third of the house — the area between the two more closely spaced chimneystacks — was probably still part of the outbuilding at that time. When this portion was raised by three feet and converted to living accommodation is not certain, but the valuation increases from £2 13s 7d to £2 15s in 1870, suggesting this conversion most likely took place around that date. It is possible the porch and dormers were also added at this time, though such features are generally associated with the late Victorian or Edwardian period, particularly on relatively modest houses, and they may have been added around 1900.

The occupant recorded in 1856 was James Reid. He was succeeded in 1870 by Matthew Reid, who was in turn followed in 1907 by William James Reid, who acquired the freehold in 1910. The Reid family retained possession of the house until 1958, when a Robert Martin — possibly a relative of the Reids — is recorded as resident. Martin remained until 1976, when the property was acquired by the then-current owner. The larger portion of the rear extension appears to have been built in the mid-20th century, with changes in the valuation pointing to around 1958.

The house had been altered over the course of the 20th century, removing some historic fabric and detailing. Although it was considered of local interest as a vernacular house, it was assessed as not of listable quality.