84 Culmore Point Road, Londonderry, BT48 8JW

These are a group of model semi-detached cottages built in the late 1860s and early 1870s under the direction of the Honourable The Irish Society. They were designed as prototypes for similar dwellings and were constructed to face the River Foyle, north of Culmore Point, set back from the water’s edge by a concrete embankment. While some of the cottages have been altered, they retain elements of their original form and detail.

The cottages are arranged in three pairs, numbered 76 to 86, and are two bays wide, built with handmade brick in a Flemish bond pattern. They have pitched roofs with projecting porches, and the ground floor features wide, square-proportioned windows with hood mouldings positioned high above. Dormer windows are centrally placed above each dwelling, with sills just above the gutter line. A plaster frieze runs beneath the gutter, supported by widely spaced cast iron brackets. Gutters flow into a centrally placed decorative cast iron trunkhead with a single downpipe running between the two dwellings, secured by decorative brackets. The roofs are slate, with a central chimney between the dwellings, which have been altered to a rustic brickwork finish, and four Tudor-style chimney pots. The rear of the cottages have gable roofs with a lean-to roof extension. The gable walls are plastered with a new back return extension. Porches are timber-clad, featuring decorative barges and a pointed timber finial, and the dormers are similarly treated. Each cottage has a front and rear garden. The windows are divided into 12 equal panes with top-hung opening lights. Dormer windows are triangular pointed, with a diamond pane at the top centre. The gables feature a ground floor bedroom window and a centrally placed first-floor window.

The Culmore estate reverted to the Irish Society in 1860. Richard Williamson was appointed Irish Society surveyor, and his plans and elevations were based on those of Henry Roberts (1803-76), who had previously prepared designs for the Society aimed at improving the conditions of the labouring classes. Construction took place between 1863 and 1864. The cottages are now under individual ownership. An Ordnance Survey Map from 1853 shows a terrace on the site named 'Kings Row'.