Strangemore House, 2 Lower Main Street, Dungiven, Co Londonderry, BT47 4PG

Strangemore House is a late Georgian house of considerable historical interest, much altered by subsequent generations. It occupies a prominent site at the entrance to Dungiven from the west, close by the River Roe, and is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832.

The house is a 2-storey roughcast rendered building with gables, hips, and a slated roof. The north-facing entrance façade is 5 bays long, with the 2 easternmost bays projecting forward by one bay. The entrance itself is set within a 2-storey canted bay featuring a rusticated stone surround and thin cornice with shallow block piece on top. The door opening is arched with a plain fanlight. On either side of the canted bay are single 4-pane sliding sash windows with low cills. The projecting 2 bays on the front return have 2 widely spaced 4-pane sliding sash windows, with 1 similar window on the flanking wall. All have low cills.

At first-floor level there is a window over each ground-floor opening, though these are slightly lesser in height. The cill levels of the first 3 bays are notably lower than the others, indicating a change of floor level. The roofline of the first 3 bays is correspondingly lower. A frieze band fills the space between window heads and gutters. Window reveals are finished with smooth render, showing as a thin line at the edge. The first 3 bays are topped with a gabled roof of Bangor blue slates and a gabled chimney stack. Over the canted bay is a faceted hip roof with lead hips, whilst the front return has a hipped roof with tiled ridges.

The east elevation is 2 bays wide with a single ground-floor window of similar type to those on the entrance front and 2 chimneys, one to each bay. Each shouldered chimney stack has a deep frieze and cornice, divided into 2 panels on the wide faces. At first-floor level are 4 evenly spaced 4-pane sliding sash windows above the frieze band.

The south elevation is 5 bays long with the 2 easternmost bays projecting slightly and containing 2 windows on both ground and first floors. A 2-storey small gabled back return occurs in the middle of the other 3 bays, with a lower roofline. Windows are symmetrically arranged on either side at ground and first-floor levels. A further single-storey return to the back return has a hipped lean-to roof, with ground-floor windows of 12-pane sliding sash type. The west gable has a narrow window and door at ground floor and a central chimney stack on the gable.

The house is prominently sited on the north side of Lower Main Street in its own grounds, with a gateway entrance from Main Street and an avenue entrance from Pellipar Avenue. To the north of the house is a small stream draining towards the River Roe, which may have been a garden feature in the past. To the west, at a distance, stands a 2-storey coachhouse presently being restored. It is gabled with chimney stacks on each gable, a Georgian glazed window, and coach doors with segmental arches. The boundary wall is rendered in roughcast with concrete coping. The property formerly had decorative cast iron gates to Main Street with finials made by Brown of Derry, which have recently been shot blasted.

Historical Context

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs record that Leslie Ogilby resided in the house, describing it as "modern and commodious and in the perfect state of order and elegance" and noting that "these 2 buildings, with their office houses and grounds, are kept in add much beauty to the entrance of the town from Londonderry" (the other house referred to being Owenbeg Cottage). In 1821, John McCloskey wrote that "Mr Leslie Ogilby's house is remarkably neat and fitted up with the utmost comfort in his own good taste".

The building has undergone significant alterations since its construction. The Ordnance Survey map of 1859 shows Strangemore with a markedly different plan form from the present day. A photograph from circa 1910 in the possession of the current owners shows the house with an additional 3-bay wing to the west featuring a remarkable wide overhang. The house of 1859 probably had 2 wings of 3 bays and another of 2 bays to the east. The east wing was demolished circa 1900 and the present east block constructed, as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1905. The existing centrepiece with its canted bay may have formed part of an almost symmetrical façade originally 8 bays long. The coachhouse is depicted on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map as somewhat shorter in length than shown on the 1859 map and is currently undergoing restoration. The present owners have occupied the property since the 1950s.