Gamekeeper’s House (The Pheasantry), Drenagh Demesne, 66 Broad Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OQH

This is a mid-19th century, two-storey house, originally built as the gamekeeper’s house on Drenagh Demesne, near Limavady. It was constructed between 1860 and 1879, and is an example of a building designed to reflect well on the landed estate it served, demonstrating self-sufficiency.

The house is three bays wide and built of polychrome brick with natural slate roofing. The roof has a steep pitch with decorative wavy fascia and bargeboards. The walls are built upon a chamfered sandstone plinth, with biscuit-coloured bricks used for the quoins, window and door trim, and a string course just below the first-floor cills. Sandstone cills are also present. The rear elevation lacks the decorative brickwork of the front. The windows are sliding sash, with four panes to each sash, and 16 panes to the ground floor windows and 12 to the first floor. A date stone, incorporating a coat of arms, is set into the gable facing the driveway, and a small rectangular window illuminates the attic space in the other gable. The chimneys, each having two flues, feature offsets and moulded coping.

The house retains significant architectural merit due to its style, proportions, ornamentation, plan form, interior quality, and overall survival. It has local historical significance and is currently occupied by a tenant, though it was formerly designated the gamekeeper’s house.