13 Crawford Square, Londonderry

13 Crawford Square is a three-storey, two-bay rendered Italianate terraced house built in 1874–75, most likely to designs by Robert Collins, though this attribution remains unconfirmed. Robust in design and largely intact, it forms part of an impressive terrace of sixteen buildings set on a sloping site overlooking Crawford Square — a mid-Victorian garden square laid out in 1861 by civil engineer and architect Fitzgibbon Louch (1826–1911), located off Northland Road on a hill overlooking the River Foyle. The listing covers the main house, a rear outbuilding, and a cast iron boot scraper adjacent to the front entrance.

Crawford Square takes its name from Samuel Law Crawford, a local solicitor who owned the land, as recorded in the Dublin Builder. Louch, who established an independent practice in Londonderry in 1859, was also responsible for the entrance to the City Cemetery and the design of the Magazine Gate entrance to the city walls. Crawford Square was part of the city's northward expansion following the establishment of Georgian-style terraces along Great James Street, Queen Street and Clarendon Street in the 1830s to 1860s, and was intended for Londonderry's professional and merchant classes. At the time the first tenders were invited in the 1860s, the Northland Road was still described as a country road leading out of the city towards Donegal.

The earliest houses on the square, Nos 1–2, were built in 1865 for Samuel Knox, a building contractor, while the majority of the adjoining terrace was built for John McAdoo, a local seed merchant and landowner. Nos 3–10 were designed by Robert Collins — Londonderry's Consulting Engineer from 1866 to 1874 — and constructed by the building firm of G. & R. Ferguson, as recorded in the Irish Builder. No. 13, together with the adjoining Nos 14–16, was constructed in 1874–75. Although it is not known whether Collins was personally involved in this later phase of construction, his original design was clearly followed: Nos 11–16 are almost identical to the earlier portion of the terrace. On completion, No. 13 was assigned a total rateable value of £36, a figure that remained unchanged through the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956–72). By 1911, the house was occupied by Joseph Chamber, a National School Inspector, whose Census Building Return described it as a first-class dwelling of twelve rooms with a stable as its sole outbuilding.

In plan, the house is rectangular, facing north-east, with a three-storey rendered return to the rear and a two-storey outbuilding accessed from the rear. It is paired with, and symmetrical to, the adjacent No. 14 Crawford Square. The pitched natural slate roof is continuous with No. 14, and a large buff brick chimney with a moulded corbel and buff clay pots is shared with No. 12. The eaves have timber fascia boards and a moulded soffit with paired block modillions, with half-round cast iron guttering discharging to a circular cast iron downpipe.

The front elevation features a two-storey, three-sided canted bay with a parapet, recessed panels between the first and second storeys, and moulded cills and string courses. Window openings have segmental arched heads and 1/1 double-hung timber sliding sash windows with moulded horns. The first-floor window above the main entrance has a moulded architrave with stop blocks and a moulded cill shared with No. 14. The recessed arched doorcase has a moulded soffit and a tiled step, and contains an original four-panelled door with glazed upper panels and a plain semi-circular fanlight above. The doorcase is finished with a hood mould with keystone and decorative brackets.

The rear elevation and three-storey return are rendered, with square-headed window openings. The return has replacement uPVC windows where seen, a hipped natural slate roof with blue-black hip and ridge tiles, and a buff brick chimney with a moulded corbel shared with the return of No. 11. To the rear of the site is a stone-built outbuilding with brick surrounds to its openings and a pitched roof with artificial slates. This outbuilding forms part of the stepped row of rear outbuildings associated with the Crawford Square houses, which front onto Academy Road.

The house is set back slightly from the footpath, approached by a path and a short flight of concrete steps shared with the adjacent property. A modest front garden is enclosed by a dwarf wall. The setting faces north-east over the tree-lined Crawford Square green. The quality of the setting is further enhanced by the stone outbuilding to the rear and by the surviving cast iron boot scraper beside the front entrance.

Crawford Square was included in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area in 1978, designated as an area of special architectural or historic interest whose character it is desirable to preserve or enhance. Nos 1–23 Crawford Square were subsequently listed in 1979. No. 13 underwent a renovation in 1996 that included the re-slating of the roof and the replacement of its rainwater goods.