House, Sandholes, Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh, BT92 8LW

This is a single-storey and attic, three-bay hearth-lobby vernacular house, likely built between 1820 and 1839. It is aligned north-south on a lane to the north of Sandholes Townland, and is a rare example of this building type.

The house has a pitched roof made of modern metal corrugated sheets, with a cement-rendered chimney at the party wall between the middle and right bays. There are no eaves or rainwater goods. The walls are lime-rendered over random rubble stone. The windows are 2/2 exposed-box sliding sashes with horns and stone cills, with the exception of some windows noted below. The principal elevation faces east. The central bay features a windbreak porch to the right with red brick walls and a monopitched natural slate roof, the front of which is blocked with the remains of a t+g-sheeted door; the left and right cheeks are blank. Windows are located to the left of the porch and in the centre of the left and right bays. The left gable is abutted by a lower lean-to shed with a monopitched corrugated metal roof and concrete block walls, which has a timber door on its east side and blank sides. The upper level has a window in the centre. The rear elevation has a window set to the right of the central bay, and the right bay has a small fixed pane window. The right gable is blank.

The house occupies a pleasant and secluded elevated site, accessed by a long lane from the road.

A building is shown at this location on an Ordnance Survey 6-inch map of 1834; it was occupied by Richard Graham in 1862 and was valued at £2, with no subsequent changes to its valuation.

The building is of local interest and rarity, demonstrating vernacular style, pleasing proportions, and good quality construction and survival.