11 College Terrace, Rock Road, Londonderry, County Londonderry, BT48 7NZ

11 College Terrace is a Victorian mid-terrace townhouse of two storeys with an attic, built in 1889–90 as one of a row of thirteen similar houses lining the eastern side of College Terrace, close to the junction of Rock Road and Strand Road on the north side of the city centre, on the eastern bank of the River Foyle. The terrace faces west, overlooking an urban tree-lined green and a low schist wall topped with plain iron railings that forms the boundary of The University of Ulster at Magee College. Number 11 is flanked to the north by No. 10 and to the south by No. 12 College Terrace.

The house is rectangular on plan, with a projecting two-storey rear return that steps down to a single-storey extension with a slated lean-to roof. The principal west-facing elevation is set in Flemish brick bond with ornate Victorian industrial brick dressings in a contrasting colour. A dentilled brick cornice runs at eaves level, with black brick dressings below. A continuous decorative brick stringcourse in contrasting colour runs at both ground and first floor levels, and again below the dormer window. All openings are dressed with red and black brick voussoirs. On the ground floor there is a single segmental arch-headed window opening; the first floor has two matching segmental arch-headed window openings; and at attic level a single small semicircular arch-headed window opens to a dormer, centred on the elevation and topped with a decorative metal finial at its apex. The entrance is a semicircular arch-headed doorway set one step up from the pavement, fitted with a painted four-panel timber door flanked by scrolled brackets on moulded timber architraves that support a slightly projecting cornice, with a plain fanlight above. The ground and first floor windows are 4/2 timber sliding sashes, and the dormer is also fitted with a small 4/2 sliding sash. All sills have a painted finish. The rhythm of fenestration and detailing continues consistently along the full terrace.

The roof is covered in natural slate, with terracotta clay ridge tiles to both the main roof and the rear return. A modern timber Velux rooflight has been added to the rear slope. A large two-stage redbrick chimney stack, with clay pots, rises from the north side of the ridge. Cast-iron guttering and circular downpipes are fitted to the front elevation. The rear east elevation was not accessible for inspection at the time of survey. A rear alleyway runs the full length of the terrace, giving access to the rear yards.

College Terrace was originally laid out in 1889–90 by the Trustees of Magee College to provide accommodation for the college's employees. Magee College had opened in 1865 as a seminary for young men pursuing careers in the Presbyterian ministry, and was renamed the Presbyterian Theological College when it became a constituent college of the Royal University of Ireland in 1879. The development of College Terrace formed part of a wider northward expansion of Londonderry that had begun in the mid-19th century, driven by a period of economic growth and prosperity lasting from the 1860s through to the end of the century. Alongside College Terrace, the three-storey redbrick houses of Clarence Avenue were also erected during this period to serve the growing college community. Three professors' houses were built by the university during the three decades between 1881 and 1911, to designs by Young and Mackenzie, W. A. Barker, and Robinson and Davidson.

The terrace's gently curving layout represents a deliberate departure from the earlier rectangular squares at Crawford Square and De Burgh Terrace. The Magee Conservation Area Design Guide notes that the stepped eaves, attic dormers, and chimneys, combined with the overall high architectural quality, mean the street contributes greatly to the character and variety of the wider conservation area. The writer Calley has described College Terrace as competing with Palace Street for the accolade of most charming street in the city, praising the mature trees behind the schist boundary wall on the north side as giving the small space the feeling of an oasis.

The first recorded occupant of No. 11 was a Mr Leinster. By 1901 the house had been taken by James Alexander Elliot, a local solicitor, whose family remained in residence until 1937. The 1911 Census Building Return described No. 11 as a second-class dwelling comprising six rooms. The Annual Revisions set the original total rateable value at £10. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) raised this to £18, and the Second General Revaluation (1956–72) recorded a value of £28. Annie Kennedy occupied the house from 1937 until 1971. Within a decade of the terrace's construction, the majority of the houses had passed to occupants unconnected with Magee College. Since Magee's incorporation into the University of Ulster in 1969, most houses along College Terrace have been converted from private homes to multiple-occupancy student accommodation, a change the Magee Conservation Area Design Guide attributes to the negative impact of bars and nightclubs on the Strand Road on the quality of residential life. Nos. 1–13 College Terrace were listed in 1980, and the terrace was incorporated into the Magee Conservation Area in 2006, where it is identified as a zone of distinct character alongside the Rock Road and part of Northland Road.