172 Culmore Road, Londonderry, BT48 7 RS

This is a pleasing late Georgian style terrace cottage, likely built between 1820 and 1839, and improved in the mid-Victorian period with great sensitivity. The property, along with the terrace, creates a picturesque arrangement within well-maintained gardens.

No. 172 is the end property of a three-property terrace. It is two stories high, three bays wide, and has a Tyrolean rendered exterior. The roof is covered with asbestos slates and features a rendered chimney. A pitched band of natural slates, two courses deep, runs the length of the front elevation, appearing between the floors. The ground floor front wall is thicker than the upper floor, which steps back. The centrally located front door is adorned with a tripartite window to the south side, featuring wooden sliding sashes: four panes to the right and left, and twelve in the centre. A timber sliding sash window with 16 panes is on the north side. The door itself has nine panes in the upper half. First-floor windows are timber sliding sashes, more or less aligned with those below. The south-facing window has 12 panes, arranged four wide, while the north-facing window has nine panes. Reveals for the door and windows are painted black, along with a black plinth. A narrow black band frames the entire elevation. The first-floor windows are relatively short, filling the wall space from the top of the slate band to the underside of the eaves. There is no overhang, and the building features a half-round metal gutter and a simple downpipe at the gable. The slate band drains into a metal ogee gutter. A rear extension has been added, featuring a gable filled with matching timber sash windows with small panes that are consistent with the front elevation. French doors within the extension are similarly treated. The rear elevation of the extension also utilizes the same window fenestration. The property benefits from an extensive garden at the front, side, and rear. The terrace is set well back from Culmore Road, enhancing its attractiveness.

The terrace is depicted on an Ordnance Survey map from 1830, suggesting it likely began as a single-story structure and was erected as tenant houses by either the Culmore Estate or the Irish Society. The upper floor was probably added after 1860. Historical records indicate local interest and group value, acknowledging the property’s style, proportion, and setting.