Roe Mill House, 171 Roemill Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 9EX

Roe Mill House is a two-storey, double pile house built between 1820 and 1839, situated on Roemill Road, Limavady, County Londonderry. It is nicely situated and has some fine interior spaces, with a history of local interest to Limavady. The exterior has been renovated, though the use of PVC windows detracts from its architectural quality. The house is oriented south, perpendicular to Roemill Road. It features two wide, canted bays rising to eaves level, framing a central entrance door with a segmental fanlight and side lights. The exterior is finished with brown dry dash render and a flat sand cement string course, with architraves around the windows. The roof is covered in natural slate with decorative red ridge tiles. Top-hung PVC windows are fitted throughout. Timber architraves and stub pilasters frame the entrance, with leaded glazing. Rendered chimneys top the east gables. The rear of the house features two aligning windows to the rear of the front pile, stepping down to two aligning windows in the rear pile, with a second window at ground level near the back. A flat-roofed extension projects from the rear. Three equally spaced windows are positioned on the back of the main house at first floor level. The west elevation reveals that the rear pile is three metres narrower than the front. A lean-to back porch is set in a recess. The site slopes steeply to the west, down to the location of the former Roe Mills (HB02/13/004), where a garden is situated.

Historical records indicate the house was known as ‘Millbank’. According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1833-5, Roe Mill, “the residence of William Moody Esquire,” commands a view of Roe Park demesne. The rear of the house was originally a drying house for a bleach mill, which was exchanged for a distillery in 1821. An orchard was also associated with the property. The house was extended to the front between 1848 and 1907, creating the present double pile arrangement. It was occupied by the Irwin family before the First World War and then acquired by the Ritters of Roe Park in 1926, who used it as a residence for one of their sons. The current owners purchased the house in the late 1980s. A renovation in 1993 involved changing the render from grey paint, replacing the windows, adding the red ridge tiles to the roof, and extending the kitchen.