Wilson House, 28 Spout Road, Dergalt, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, BT82 8NB

Wilson House, Dergalt

A direct-entry, two-bay vernacular dwelling with attached outbuildings, constructed in the early 19th century (circa 1800–1819). The building is reputed to be the ancestral home of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States.

The house is sited approximately two miles north of Strabane, accessed by a narrow lane that rises to reveal the buildings from the south. The main dwelling faces south and consists of two structural bays: a two-storey block roofed in slate, flanked to the east by a single-storey thatched wing with outshot, and to the west by a thatched byre. A further byre to the east is roofed with horizontal timber planks. A plain chimneystack rises from the west gable of the slated block, with another integral to the skews terminating the east side of the thatched section. The thatched byre walls finish with cement skews.

The front elevation, reading from west to east, comprises: a double timber-sheeted door to the thatched byre; a 3/3 vertically-sliding sashed window with sash stops above a 3/9 vertically-sliding sashed window with sash stops in the slated bay; a timber-sheeted door to the thatched dwelling; a 3/6 vertically-sliding sashed window with sash stops in the thatched wing; and a timber-sheeted entrance door to the plank-roofed byre. At the rear, the thatched roof extends over a bed outshot served by two quartered casements to the kitchen. A small opening exists in the east gable of the plank-roofed byre. The stone walls, finished internally and externally in lime-washed plaster, have plastered window reveals. No further openings appear at the sides.

The outbuildings include a pig house of whitewashed stone with thatched roof between cement skews, divided into two compartments with walled enclosures; a fowl house of similar construction; and a cart shed with horizontal timber sheeting and bargeboarded gable above. These buildings are of random rubble construction with harled and whitewashed finishes and roofs of corrugated iron.

Historical Context

A building stood on this site as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1833–34, though not recorded in contemporary valuation records. By 1854, the house was abutted by a long building to the southwest, now absent. The 1857–58 valuation lists the occupier as William Wilson, believed to be a nephew of James Wilson, who emigrated from Dergalt to America in 1807. James Wilson married Annie Adams and had ten children; their youngest son Joseph fathered Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States (1913–21). As president, Wilson extended the franchise to women, prohibited alcohol, led the United States into the First World War, and played a key role in peace negotiations at Versailles and the formation of the League of Nations.

The house was acquired by the Northern Ireland government in 1963. The then Minister of Finance, Terence O'Neill, intended to transfer it to the National Trust, but the Trust declined due to insufficient documentary proof of its connection to President Wilson. The building is now managed as an outreach exhibit of the Ulster American Folk Park in partnership with Strabane District Council.

Architectural and Historical Significance

The building is of special interest for its style, proportion, ornamentation, plan form, structural system, interior quality, and rarity as a survivor of what was once a common vernacular type. Its significance is further enhanced by the historical association with the Wilson family and by the good state of preservation of the farmyard complex.