17 Aberfoyle Terrace, Strand Road, Londonderry, County Londonderry, BT48 6SE

17 Aberfoyle Terrace is a mid-terrace two-storey townhouse with attic level, built in 1903 as part of a row of seventeen similar houses lining the west side of Strand Road, Londonderry. It overlooks the River Foyle to the east and sits immediately below the campus of Magee College (now part of the University of Ulster) to the west. The terrace was designed by William A. Barker (1851–1898), a local architect and engineer who played a significant role in developing the university area of the city during the 1890s. Despite the painting of the brickwork at ground floor level, the house retains considerable historic character and forms part of a group (Nos. 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace) that contributes positively to the Magee Conservation Area.

Architectural Description

The house is rectangular in plan with a projecting rear return. It is built in red brick with polychromatic yellow brick dressings in Flemish bond, and sits behind a low brick wall with a painted coping stone and replacement painted steel railings.

The principal east-facing elevation is two bays wide. At ground floor level on the right side there is a canted single-storey bay window with a hipped roof; both the bay and the door surround have brick dressings that have been painted. A continuous painted sill course runs across the full width of the elevation at first floor level. Window openings to the canted bay and first floor are segmental arch-headed, while the wall-headed gable dormer above has a round-headed opening and a painted apex fascia board. Glazing is by 1-over-1 timber sliding sashes to the canted bay, 2-over-2 timber sliding sashes to the first floor, and a 2-over-2 sash to the dormer. The entrance doorway has a segmental arch head, is approached by three steps up from the pavement, and is fitted with a painted six-panel fielded timber door with a fanlight above. A projecting brick cornice runs at eaves level across the elevation.

The roof is a pitched slate construction — natural slate to the east slope and artificial slate to the west — with terracotta clay ridge tiles to the main roof, dormer, and rear return. A large two-stage polychromatic brick chimney stack rises from the north side, centred on the ridge and fitted with six circular clay pots. Cast-iron guttering and a circular downpipe serve the front elevation.

The north and south sides abut the adjoining Nos. 15 and 19 Aberfoyle Terrace. The rear west elevation is three storeys in height, cement rendered and painted, and is abutted by a two-storey cement rendered painted rear return built at half-landing height. A further single-storey return with a monopitch roof adjoins this. The rear fenestration is irregular, with casement windows and uPVC glazing; there is also a small flat-roofed dormer to the rear roof slope.

Some historic detailing survives internally.

Historical Context

The northern expansion of Londonderry began in the mid-19th century with the construction of Georgian-style terraces on Great James Street, Queen Street, and Clarendon Street, followed by the residential terraces of Crawford Square and De Burgh Terrace. By the end of the 19th century this expansion had reached the Magee University campus, which had been incorporated into the Royal University of Ireland in 1879. New red brick terraces followed at Clarence Avenue, College Terrace, and Aberfoyle Terrace itself.

The terrace was built on land belonging to John McFarland, a local magistrate and engineer who lived at Aberfoyle House on the hill overlooking Strand Road — the source of the terrace's eventual name. Construction began in 1891 and continued in phases over two decades, with the final houses completed in 1911. Records show the terrace was originally known as Templemore Terrace; the name was changed to Aberfoyle in around 1903. Barker, who was also responsible for Florence Terrace on the Northland Road, a Professor's House within the Magee Campus, and was associated with the layout of the Foyle College grounds for building purposes, provided the standard design for the entire terrace. By the time of his death in 1898, only around half of the houses had been completed.

No. 17 was completed in 1903 as part of the second phase of development and formed part of the run of Nos. 7–33, which are two-and-a-half-storey, two-bay houses with a bay window at ground floor and a dormer to the roof. The house was originally valued at £16 10 shillings. In 1911 it was occupied by Margaret Love, a widow who took in boarders; the census building return described it as a second-class dwelling consisting of eight rooms. The McFarland estate retained ownership of the terrace until at least the 1970s, during which time No. 17 remained in use as a private dwelling with frequently changing occupants. By the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the rateable value had risen to £23, and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72) it had increased further to £26.

Nos. 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace were listed in 1979 and incorporated into the Magee Conservation Area in 2006. In 1970 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society described the terrace as "a pleasing terrace of two-storey houses with half dormers, each house with a ground floor half-hexagonal bay window in yellow brick. The whole terrace is in red brick with brick reveals, and dressings in yellow brick. The end houses (No. 3 and No. 35) are a little higher than the rest." A renovation carried out in 1988 included the reslating of the roof in natural slate and the repointing of the front elevation. The Magee Conservation Area Design Guide identified Aberfoyle Terrace as one of five zones of distinct character within the Conservation Area, while noting that its ambiance had changed considerably since the terrace was first occupied, and that it now overlooks heavy flows of fast-moving traffic on the four-lane Strand Road.