Bellevue, 43 Greenhill Road, Aghadowey, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 4EU

Bellevue is a three-bay, two-storey-with-attic detached rendered country house built around 1840, located on the north side of Greenhill Road in Aghadowey, south of Coleraine, County Londonderry. The building is well-proportioned in a style typical of the period, with well-preserved architectural detailing and much of its original character intact. It is situated in picturesque surroundings with views over the surrounding countryside and makes an important contribution to the architectural quality and character of the rural landscape in the Aghadowey area.

The house has a rectangular plan with a central two-storey gabled breakfront to the east and a two-storey return to the rear. The pitched natural slate roof is finished with blue-black angled ridge tiles, has masonry verges and four rendered chimneystacks with moulded caps. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on brackets and cavetto-moulded eaves are features of the eaves detailing. The walling is ruled-and-lined painted render on a chamfered plinth with raised quoins; roughcast render is used to the north gable.

The principal elevation faces east, where the breakfront breaks the eaves line. The breakfront is flanked on either side by two windows at each floor (those to the first floor right are replacement timber casements) and contains a round-headed 6/6 window with a plain top light at first floor over an elliptical-headed doorcase. The doorcase comprises two Doric columns supporting a shallow entablature, flanked by fluted pilasters and surmounted by a moulded archivolt. It is accessed via three stone steps. The door itself is a recessed raised-and-fielded ten-panel timber door (with timber boarding covering the lower panels) surmounted by a curvilinear timber fanlight. Windows throughout are generally original 6/6 timber sash with horns, set in stop-end chamfered reveals with painted projecting sills, unless otherwise stated. The south gable has a replacement window to the centre at attic level. The west (rear) elevation was only partially viewed but shows a gabled two-storey return at the left with a 2/2 window to the first floor right and two 2/2 windows to the first floor of the south elevation; the right bay has two windows at first floor. The north gable has a 6/6 window to the centre at attic and a uPVC window to the first floor right.

The building is situated on a mature site in unspoiled rural surroundings with views over the countryside to the east. It is accessed from the south via a long tree-lined avenue; square painted brick piers mark the entrance, leading to a rear yard accessed via high modern metal gates. To the north side of the yard is a single-storey annexe with a natural slate roof and rendered chimneystack to the gable, with modern openings to the north elevation. A single-storey flat-roof painted brick abutment, topped by a metal water tank and featuring a 3/2 sash window, also stands to the north.

Historical Context

Bellevue dates from around 1840 and first appears on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849–53, situated near the Aghadowey River and overlooking a bleach green dotted with watch houses. According to Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), the occupier was William Jefferson, and the house was let from James Smith, who ran the nearby beetling mill and bleach greens. The valuation of the present house and outbuildings was £13. The building is shown in its present form with a projecting central bay. By the Third Edition map of 1904–5, the house had been extended to the rear.

In 1866, the house passed to Dr Alexander Lane MD, who extended it to the rear to use part of the premises as a dispensary. The valuation consequently rose to £17 in 1867. Hugh S Morrison MD took over the house in 1888 and it remained in the Morrison family until at least 1954. In the 1901 census, Hugh S Morrison, aged 43, was recorded living in the house with his wife, two sons, and a domestic servant. The ten-room house was designated first class. The 1911 census records that only two of Morrison's four children had survived, but one of his sons was a university undergraduate by that time and later became a doctor, following his father's profession. The First General Revaluation of the 1930s lists the accommodation as comprising, on the ground floor: three reception rooms, a kitchen, pantry, surgery and scullery, and on the upper floors: four bedrooms, a bathroom, a WC and two attic bedrooms.

The building was listed in 1977. In 1990, renovations and repairs were completed during which some inappropriate windows were installed and PVC rainwater goods were fitted.