Drumachose House, 2 Greystone Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OND

Drumachose House

A two-storey, three-bay house rendered in sand cement with natural slate roofing, situated in a mature wooded setting near the north west end of Greystone Road in Limavady. The building has been demolished (October 2000).

The main south west facade features a central flat-roofed porch with cornice and decorative metalwork, surmounted by a double panelled door (1.2m wide) with segmental fanlight flanked by two narrow round-headed windows. A cornice once supported on console brackets (now broken) stood over the door. Above on the first floor is a three-sash segmental window with keystone under the eaves. Slots to the basement flank each side of the porch. Canted bay windows rise to the eaves on both sides, each topped with a pitched slate roof. Sand cement-rendered chimneys appear on the south east gable and on the ridge between the porch and north west bay. The roof is hipped at the north west end.

The north west elevation, facing the lawn, is more formally composed. Hipped at both ends, it spans seven windows of unequal spacing. The front block projects 150mm beyond the return. In the centre is a tall projecting timber screen serving the morning room, with French windows at its centre. Flanking ground-floor windows are six-pane Georgian sashes; first-floor windows are smaller with nine panes. The two sashes nearest the front facade are of similar size but lack pane sub-division. A brick dentil course runs at the eaves; basement slots return beneath these windows.

The building's external finishes include sliding sash windows (mostly two-pane) and cast iron rainwater goods. The interior, recorded before demolition, displayed considerable grace and character, with a spacious and pleasant hall and staircase, a bright and airy living room, and finely detailed morning room and dining room spaces. A music room was added as an interesting later feature.

To the rear, a brick stable block (two storeys) projects onto the lawn, with the arched coach house opening now blocked. Associated outbuildings form a courtyard to the rear: whitewashed and naturally slated with original stable fittings remaining. The longest range, parallel to the house and partly converted to kitchens, features an arch to the rear yard. A lower single-storey range extends perpendicular at the north west end. On the south east side stand sandstone entrance pillars and a two-storey barn, with a high rendered wall enclosing the back yard.

The house originated as the glebe house, built in 1810 by Reverend Elias Thackeray using funds from the Board of First Fruits, paid in instalments. The 1833-5 Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe it as "a small house" to which "an addition has been made in 1824 by the present incumbent, rendering it thus a commodious house. It is bare and exposed…trees planted 10 years ago." The 1848 Ordnance Survey Map shows an L-shaped building with two barns on the present lawn. In the late Victorian era the building underwent further renovation; the 1907 map indicates the front portion had been substantially rebuilt with an enlarged return, while the lawn barns had been demolished and rebuilt in the low courtyard wing.

The property served as a rectory until the mid 1920s, when the incumbent moved to the Lodge on Main Street. During the inter-war period, Miss Bradfield occupied the house and added the music room extension to the living room. Miss Hanna lived there subsequently. Samuel Nutt purchased the property in 1988. An intricately carved timber chimneypiece (foreign) once stood in the entrance hall but was removed to Gosford Castle in the mid 1980s. A Victorian conservatory that had abutted the French windows of the living room was removed by the then owner.

The building held historical importance to the local community as the former rectory. It was demolished in October 2000 by developer Black and Adams, with mature trees felled to make way for new development.