Ardcaien, 10 Ardcaien, Culmore Road, Derry, Co Londonderry

Ardcaien House is a detached three-bay two-storey house with a large two-storey side return and outbuildings, built between approximately 1880 and 1899. It is located on the west side of Culmore Road and is now surrounded by the Ardcaien housing development.

The house is rectangular in plan, with a single-storey sunroom to the south-west, a single-storey veranda to the south-east containing an entrance porch, and two-storey returns to the rear and side (north-east). A single-storey outbuilding to the north-east forms a covered yard with the side return, beneath a curved corrugated iron roof supported on curved lattice trusses. The main roof is pitched and hipped with natural slate and artificial slate, topped with blue and black clay ridge tiles and lead hip rolls to the bays. The corbelled yellow facing brickwork chimneystacks are fitted with yellow clay pots. Eaves are overhanging with timber fascia and soffit boards, and cast-iron ogee gutters and rectangular rainwater pipes serve the main building. Walls throughout are smooth rendered. Windows are predominantly square-headed timber 1/1 sliding sashes with projecting masonry cills, though some areas have been updated with replacement uPVC casement windows with fake horns.

The principal south-east elevation features a full-width canted slate-roofed single-storey raised veranda accessed centrally by five stone steps. The veranda is timber-constructed with turned posts and chamfered lintels with spindles and handrails between posts. At its centre is a moulded scroll-topped Dutch gable surmounted by a ball finial, containing an ocular window with raised surround and key-stone details at the cardinal points. The house entrance is a central timber porch with a half-glazed timber-panelled door and side lights, all containing geometrically designed leaded glass, with a glazed overlight and panelled cheeks. Above is a central 1/1 timber sliding sash window. To the left, a semi-circular full-height bay contains three 1/1 timber sliding sashes with curved glass at each floor level. To the right, a canted full-height bay has three 1/1 timber sliding sashes at ground floor and three replacement uPVC casement windows at first-floor level.

The south-west elevation is abutted along its entire length by a four-bay single-storey hipped slate-roofed sunroom. Windows are uPVC segmental-headed in square-headed timber openings between turned timber posts and chamfered lintels. The sunroom is accessed from the veranda via glazed uPVC French doors with side and overlights. The south-east elevation of the sunroom is two bays wide, while the north-west elevation is two bays wide with tapered glazed uPVC panels above each bay and abutted by a small lean-to store at ground level. The first floor features a canted bay to the left with three replacement uPVC casement windows, and to its right are two more replacement uPVC casement windows.

The rear north-west elevation is four windows wide. The right bay has a replacement uPVC casement window on each floor. The next window to the left is a 1/1 timber sliding sash surmounted by a replacement uPVC casement window. The far left bay is abutted at ground floor by a single-storey extension with two uPVC casement windows. This extension is timber-framed on a smooth rendered plinth with a lean-to slate roof, partly glazed with cresting at the change in pitch. It is abutted at the north-east by a two-storey return with two 1/1 timber sliding sash windows at first-floor level on its exposed section; the north-west elevation is five lights wide with filleted corners, and the south-west elevation has central glazed French doors flanked by two lights with filleted corners.

The side north-east elevation is abutted at the left by a single-storey flat-roofed extension. The exposed section above this is blank. The remainder of the elevation is abutted by a two-storey hip-roofed return, with its south-east elevation curved and containing three uPVC casement windows. The exposed section of the two-storey return contains a single 1/1 timber sliding sash window to the left with a satellite dish to the right. The north-west elevation is blank with a central projecting chimney. The north-east elevation of this return is four bays wide: the left bay has a single timber casement window at each floor level; the next bay to the right has timber French doors with exposed red brick quoins and a single timber casement window over; the next bay has a single timber casement window at each floor level; and the right end bay is abutted by a long return with an arched entry at the junction, its exposed section containing a single timber casement window.

The north-west elevation of the two-storey roughcast return has a segmental-headed entry at the far right with exposed red brickwork surround and two small timber casement windows over. Five variously-sized timber casement windows are spaced along the ground floor, with two wall-head dormers at first-floor level containing timber casement windows. The north-east elevation has a central timber and glazed door with side lights surmounted by a small timber casement window. The south-east elevation has a segmental arch-headed entry at the far left with exposed red brickwork surround surmounted by two small timber casement windows. Five timber-sheeted stable doors with glazed openings in the top leaf are spaced along this elevation, with timber-sheeted doors surmounting the second and fourth doors from the left. A rectangular timber-glazed opening is positioned between the fourth and fifth doors just above head level.

A rectangular timber-glazed outbuilding with a single-storey slated hipped roof is situated to the north-east of the house. Along with a garden wall, it encloses a yard partly covered by a curved corrugated tin roof supported on painted curved lattice trusses. The north-east elevation of the outbuilding has a central four-light timber casement window. The south-east elevation has four small six-light timber windows spaced along its length. The south-west elevation contains a central 1/1 timber sliding sash window. The north-west elevation is three bays wide: the left bay contains a timber-sheeted door, the central bay contains a large square-headed opening with timber-sheeted doors, and the right bay contains a timber-sheeted stable door with a glazed opening in the top door.

Ardcaien House is accessed from Culmore Road via the Ardcaien housing development. The surrounding grounds, once extensively landscaped, are now occupied by later housing. The house is approached by a tarmac driveway to the south, which also gives access to the enclosed yard and outbuildings to the north-east. The remainder of the site is laid out in well-maintained gardens.