7 Church Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82 8BS

7 Church Street, Strabane

A large three-storey semi-detached house built in 1871, situated on the south side of Church Street. The building was originally constructed on a plot previously occupied by two small dwellings. It was later divided into flats and apartments in 1967–68.

The front elevation faces roughly north and is asymmetrical. On the ground floor, the main entrance stands to the left, consisting of a panelled timber door with panelled timber pilaster jambs, timber lintel with cornice, and a plain elliptical fanlight, all encased within a relatively plain moulded surround with keystone detail. To the right of the entrance are two tall semicircular-headed windows with recent timber frames and surrounds. A moulded stringcourse runs at arch-springing level. The first floor contains three flat-arched windows with similar frames and plain surrounds with cornice hoods supported on decorative brackets; the middle window has a segmental-arched tympanum above. The second floor features three slightly smaller segmental-headed windows with moulded surrounds and decorative keystones. The front elevation is finished in painted lined render with cill courses to the first and second floors. A projecting eaves cornice is supported on curved brackets. Two gabled dormers with semicircular-arched windows sit on the front roof, and two large brick chimneys stand at the gables of the main section.

The west-facing gable is finished in unpainted roughcast with various smooth render string and cill courses and smooth render quoins. A window appears to the right of centre on the ground floor, with another to the same position on the first floor.

The building extends to the rear as a large L-shaped return, part three-storey and part two-storey. The three-storey section directly abuts the main building; the hip-roofed two-storey section, originally an outbuilding, is set at a right angle at the south end. The three-storey section's west façade has a doorway to the left with timber-sheeted door and plain rectangular fanlight. To the right are two windows of differing sizes, with the far right window being quite large. The first and second floors each contain three windows of uniform size. Other façades of this section could not be inspected, but their relationship to neighbouring properties suggests they lack openings.

The two-storey section's north façade has a window to the left on the ground floor. To its right is a flat-roofed single-storey projection containing a doorway with recent door and a window. The first floor has a similar arrangement, with the upper floor doorway accessed via a stair to the west leading onto the projection's roof. The west façade of the two-storey section appears to lack openings, as does the south façade, given the proximity of the adjacent property.

The rear south façade of the main section contains a window to the left on the first floor and another to the left on the second floor. At the far right on the second floor is a smaller window set at a slightly higher level, possibly at half-landing level. All rear and return façades are finished in plain unpainted cement render. The roofs throughout are slated. The three-storey section of the return has a mainly rendered chimneystack to the east side of its roof. Rainwater goods are a mixture of cast-iron and PVC-u.

Historical occupants included William Harpur from 1871, with Messrs Spotiswood & Lecky as immediate lessors. William R. Orr took over the tenancy in 1887, followed by Christopher Thompson around 1890, Dr. J.J. Nicholl in 1910, Dr. W.L. Stevenson in 1917, Mary Webster Stevenson in 1935, Dr. J.A. Browne in 1938, Annie Scott in 1946, and Michael Doherty in 1951. In 1967–68 the property was divided into seven flats, with the rear outbuilding subsequently converted to two additional flats.