57 Rosemount Avenue, Londonderry

A mid-terrace two-bay two-storey townhouse with attic, built in 1904 as part of a terrace of five red-brick dwellings on the north-west side of Rosemount Avenue in Londonderry. The house is situated on an elevated site overlooking Brooke Park, with the principal elevation facing south-east and set two steps up from pavement level. It abuts adjoining properties at numbers 55 and 59 Rosemount Avenue.

The principal elevation is constructed of red-brick laid in English Garden Wall Bond and features a canted rendered and painted single-storey bay window to the left with continuous sill and painted cornice, and a segmental-headed uPVC entrance door to the right with small overlight. Above are two first-floor windows with segmental-arched heads and brick voussoirs. The windows are replacement 1/1 uPVC with moulded concrete sills. A large red-brick two-stage chimney stack with six terracotta clay pots rises from the north-east side, with a projecting stepped dog-tooth red-brick cornice at eaves level mirrored on the chimney. The roof is a pitched replacement fibre cement with black clay ridge tiles and two modern rooflights. Aluminium rainwater goods serve the front elevation with uPVC to the rear.

The plan is rectangular with a two-storey rear return built at half-landing height and a two-storey attic level. The north-west elevation is smooth rendered with replacement uPVC windows to the first floor and first-floor landing level. The south-west side is abutted by neighbouring property number 59.

The house was constructed in 1904 following the development of Rosemount Avenue in the early twentieth century, which rose the hill from Northland Road. The terrace, known as Park Villas, was erected to the north-east of the Shirt Factory (built 1904 for A. B. Grant & Sons) and may have been constructed in tandem with it, though the designer is uncertain. The terrace was owned by William Doherty and initially had a rateable value of £12. The first recorded occupant was Margaret J. Doherty in 1911, when the 1911 census recorded it as a second-class dwelling of eight rooms. The house was listed in 1979 but the listing has since been removed.

The architectural and historic integrity of the exterior has been significantly compromised by the loss of original windows, door, rainwater goods and roof covering. The extensive alterations and late date mean it is not considered one of the best examples of the type.