15 Northland Road, Londonderry

15 Northland Road, Londonderry (known as Clarence House) is a substantial late-Victorian Arts and Crafts style townhouse built in 1900, forming the end-of-terrace of a row of three three-storey red brick dwellings at the corner of Northland Road and Clarence Avenue. It stands together with Nos 11 and 13 Northland Road, with which it shares group value. The terrace sits on an elevated site on the east side of Northland Road, with the River Foyle below to the east. No. 15 was built at the same time as No. 13 and the pair are similar in style and character to one another; No. 11 was built a year earlier in 1899 and differs slightly in its external detailing. The architect of the terrace is not known with certainty, although Edward J. Toye or Robert Eccles Buchanan may have been responsible, as both architects designed contemporary dwellings along Northland Road between 1895 and 1902.

The building has a rectangular plan form facing west, with a pitched natural slate roof to the north elevation orientated perpendicular to No. 13, finished with terracotta clay ridge tiles. Two large red brick chimney stacks rise from either side, centred on the ridge. The roof to the front (west) elevation is artificial slate. Rainwater goods are a mixture of moulded uPVC guttering with circular uPVC downpipes to the front, and cast-iron downpipes to the north elevation.

The front (west) elevation is the principal face of the building and displays particularly fine Arts and Crafts detailing. To the left side is a pedimented gable-end bay containing a two-storey three-sided canted bay window. This bay has a moulded cornice above the ground floor windows, a sill-course to the first floor windows, and a dentilled moulded cornice below the second floor windows that spans the full width of the elevation. Above this sits a balustraded red brick parapet with a deep projecting cornice, forming a small balcony at second floor level. The canted bay windows are square-headed timber sliding sashes with multi-paned top lights and single panes to the lower lights. At second floor level the bay is topped by a blind three-centred arch over a moulded rendered and brick surround with a keystone and herringbone-pattern brick inset containing a date stone reading 1899. The apex of the gable contains decorative terracotta tiles set within stepped brick edge detailing.

To the right side of the front elevation, a segmental arched 12-over-1 timber sliding sash window sits at first floor level above the entrance opening, with paired square-headed 4-over-1 timber sliding sash windows aligned above it at second floor level. The entrance itself is a semicircular arched door opening with a rendered corbelled canopy bearing an entablature whose plain frieze carries the words 'Clarence House', surmounted by a small balustraded balcony. A moulded rendered archway with a central keystone frames the opening, which contains a plain glazed fanlight above a pair of recessed raised-and-fielded diamond-faced three-panel timber doors.

The north elevation, facing Clarence Avenue, is three storeys of red brick with stepped brick detailing at eaves level, a rendered painted band-course below the ground floor windows, and a further rendered painted band-course between first and second floor levels. All windows are square-headed 1-over-1 timber sliding sashes with moulded horns. Ground and first floor windows on the left side are paired; there is a single window at second floor level on the left; and a narrow window to the right side at ground floor level has a multi-paned upper light and a single pane to the lower light. The remaining right side of the north elevation is concealed by climbing plants.

The south side adjoins No. 13 Northland Road. The rear (east) elevation gable-end is of red brick topped by a large red brick chimney, with a single 1-over-1 timber sliding sash window to the right side at second floor level. The rear elevation is abutted by a three-storey red brick return built at half-landing height, which steps down to a single-storey red brick extension with a felt flat roof. This in turn adjoins a two-storey red brick and roughcast render outbuilding on the east side of the site.

The rear return has a pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, and its ground floor east elevation is finished in smooth unpainted render. The fenestration is irregular on the north elevation of the return, with 1-over-1 timber sliding sash windows where visible, and a segmental-headed door opening on the ground floor right side containing a raised-and-fielded four-panel timber door with a plain architrave surround and a plain transom light over.

The two-storey outbuilding extends the full width of the site. Its east elevation faces a rear laneway accessed via Clarence Avenue and has a smooth unpainted rendered finish at ground floor with roughcast render above, stepped red brick dressings to the right side, a large square-headed door opening containing two metal doors, and a large square-headed window opening to the left containing a triple-light uPVC casement window. At first floor level there are two square-headed openings: the left is concealed by a vertically sheeted timber panel, and the right contains a metal ventilation grille. The south elevation of the outbuilding adjoins the neighbouring property, forming a row of outbuildings shared with Nos 11 to 15 Northland Road. The north elevation is of red brick finish, and the northeast side is abutted by a high galvanised fence and gate giving access to the rear laneway. The outbuilding has a pitched slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and uPVC rainwater goods.

Fine period detailing survives both internally and externally throughout the building. Some alterations detract from its overall integrity, though the quality and survival of the interior remains a point of interest.

The setting is enhanced by a small front garden enclosed by a low rendered and painted wall with a capping stone and metal railings above. The terrace forms a prominent group on the corner site, occupying an elevated position with views down towards the River Foyle.

The history of the building is well documented. The northern expansion of Londonderry began in the mid-19th century with Georgian-style terraces on Great James Street, Queen Street and Clarendon Street. The area around Edenballymore and Northland Road was still rural in character when the Victorian terrace of Crawford Square was constructed in the 1860s and 1870s. A period of economic growth and prosperity lasting from the 1860s to the end of the 19th century drove the expansion of the city, and the opening of Magee College in 1865 prompted the construction of a number of new terraced dwellings nearby, including College Terrace, Clarence Avenue and Florence Terrace.

No. 15, together with No. 13, was constructed in 1900 and the pair were known as Mount Maple. The building was leased by the Trustees of Foyle College and was initially valued at £42. It appears in plan form — with its rear return and two-storey outbuilding already in place — on the Annual Revisions Town Plan of Londonderry (circa 1873 to 1910). The first occupant was James Roulston, a local grocer with business premises on Strand Road and William Street. The 1901 census described No. 15 as a first-class building of ten rooms, with a stable, coal house and wash house as its out-offices. By the time of the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936 to 1957) the building's value had risen to £47, and it was occupied by Alexander Haslett, a sculptor whose firm, Haslett Bros, operated from premises on Abercorn Road in the 1930s. Haslett lived at Mount Maple until his death in 1959. In 1962 the building was converted into its current use as a guest house by Thomas and Eleanor Slevin. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956 to 1972) the property's value had risen further to £52.

No. 15 Northland Road was listed in 1991 and the terrace was incorporated into the Magee Conservation Area in 2006. Writing in 2013, architectural historian Calley described the terrace as "three big showy red-brick three-storey, three-bay terrace houses," noting that Nos 13 and 15 "are a pair but with varying details which show off their Arts and Crafts pedigree." The building continues in use as a guest house under the name Clarence House.