70 Main Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OEU

An early Georgian building on Main Street in Limavady, dating to the 1820s–1830s, with fine internal detailing now substantially obscured by external renovation. The building is of local historical interest as the former post office and dispensary, and for its association with the Ross family, including Mary Ross, sister of Jane Ross who recorded the Londonderry Air.

The house is a storey-and-a-half building on a basement plinth course, facing south-east onto Main Street. The main elevation is seven bays wide and was originally Georgian in character, with ground floor windows consisting of original 12-pane sashes. The elevation underwent extensive remodelling in the early 1970s by architect Obie Smith, fundamentally altering its appearance. The dominant features of the remodelled facade are three rectangular dormers at first floor level and a flat canopy approximately 400mm thick, positioned three windows wide to one side of centre. The canopy is finished with sand cement on its underside that curls up to a metal trim, and is supported on four 60mm diameter painted steel columns wrapped with rope to their junction with a steel balustrade. This balustrade runs along the top of a concrete plinth at door level, with five steps at each end. The elevation contains five windows and two doors interspersed across its width. The main entrance is centrally positioned with a plain rectangular fanlight; a second door serving the dispensary replaces what was originally the central window of three. Both doors sit beneath the canopy and are linked by lapped timber sheeting. Rebuilt brick chimneys rise from each gable. The roof is slated with PVC rainwater goods. The main facade is painted render with 100mm natural-colour trim to dormers and windows. The other elevations retain less extensive alteration. The gables are blank.

To the rear, the building forms an L-shaped plan with a return projecting from the south-west gable. The back elevation facing north-west has a single rectangular dormer. Ground floor lighting is provided by two casement windows with Georgian-pattern mullions; a lean-to porch abuts the junction of the L, and a small stained glass window with a curved head lights the stairs. The return facing north-east is lit by a sash window with Victorian glazing pattern and features two small pitched dormers; a tall chimney rises from the gable. A single-storey unpainted boiler house of more recent construction adjoins and aligns with the return. Across the courtyard stands a single-storey shed belonging to the property.

The building appears on the 1830 Ordnance Survey map where it is identified as the Post Office. The 1858 Griffith Valuation records William Cather as owner and Mary Ross as occupant; Mary Ross also occupied number 51 Main Street. The post office function is not indicated on the 1907 survey, which shows a building on Market Street serving that purpose. The present owners have occupied the house for 60 years, operating a veterinary practice now continued by their daughter. Local tradition suggests the house is one of the oldest buildings on the street, though this claim lacks formal documentation.