Troy Hall, 9a Troy Park, Culmore Road, Londonderry, BT48 7RL

Troy Hall, 9a Troy Park, Culmore Road, Londonderry

This is a richly detailed high Victorian villa, notable for its extensive and imaginative use of terracotta and reconstituted stone or plaster for cills and decorative details. It represents a good example of the type and has been well maintained with little major alteration.

The building forms one half of a two-storey, three-structural-bay villa constructed in redbrick and terracotta with natural slate roofs. The front (east) façade is dominated by three gables with rising pinnacles. The central gable is considerably smaller and recessed to align with the eaves on either side, with a door giving onto a balcony below and the main entrance door at ground level beneath. To the north of the central bay stands a large gable projecting 2 metres, featuring a canted bay at ground level. Above this are two two-pane windows surmounted by an elliptical terracotta panel, with an elliptical pediment and a pinnacle with a ball-topped finial projecting above the gable. To the south, a narrow gable projects 500 millimetres with similar two-pane sash windows at ground and first floor, each with a slight curve at the head. These windows are also surmounted by an elliptical pediment and ball-topped finials. At the south corner stands a projecting tower capped by a faceted conical roof. The principal entrance consists of a two-leaf panelled mahogany door with a semicircular fanlight, flanked by pilasters which project forward to support the balcony. Windows are positioned on the outer side of the fanlight. The building is divided into two properties: 9A to the north includes the main entrance door, whilst 9B to the south includes a bedroom over the entrance.

The south façade (9B) steps towards the rear. A gable with a canted bay at ground level projects 500 millimetres from the façade, with two two-pane sashes above surmounted by a terracotta panel and similar decorative elements. The entrance to 9B is through a timber-glazed porch located to the south of this gable. The rear (west) façade displays the hipped wings of both halves of the building with the main structure between them falling to a lower roof. The decoration here is more utilitarian in character. To the north (9A) another projecting gable similar to those on the front façade is positioned further back. A modern door arrangement with a rendered flat roof is centrally located, situated below a large stained glass window which originally served the main staircase.

The building stands in mature grounds with a large lawn to the east fronting the main façade, a rockery to the south, and road planting along the site boundaries to north and west.

Troy Hall was the sole villa built from a proposed scheme of villas planned by the Honourable the Irish Society in Troy Park, a residential development laid out by the company during the 1860s. Sir William Tite (1798–1873), architect of the Royal Exchange in the City of London (1842), the Thames Embankment (1862–70), and Government House Termonbacca for the Irish Society (1846), was the architect for the park. The house itself was constructed in 1897.