20 Molesworth Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8NR

20 Molesworth Road is a well-proportioned brick semi-detached house in the picturesque late-Victorian style, built around 1897. It was constructed as one of a pair with the adjacent house (HB09/13/034A), probably by John McNally who held the lease of the plot at that time. Contemporary valuation records describe the construction as rubble masonry and brick with a tile roof, with estimated construction costs of £459 per dwelling and a rateable value of £18. The building contributes significantly to the Victorian character of Molesworth Road in the north-eastern suburbs of Cookstown, alongside nearby railway-related structures and other houses in the area.

The house is roughly square in plan with a two-storey return to the rear. It is set back from Molesworth Road behind a decorative stone wall with simple square pillars topped by pyramidal stone caps, with a small front garden and gated path to the entrance.

The front south elevation has a doorway to the left and a squared bay window to the right. The doorway is square-headed with a timber panelled door and overlight, surmounted by a cut-stone lintel with a carved central keystone. It has a brass knocker, doorknob and letterbox. The projecting squared bay window contains square-headed windows (now replacement uPVC) with cut-stone lintels featuring carved stone central keystones, and windows set on cut-stone sills. Both the doorway and bay window are covered at ground floor level with a slate roof and carved stone cornice to the eaves.

The upper level features a canted bay to the right, supported by the ground-floor squared bay and surmounted by a flat roof with a carved timber cornice. To the left is a square-headed window with replacement uPVC windows and dressings matching the original. A half-dormer projects from the roof with a square-headed replacement uPVC window, decorative timber bargeboards to the gable, and a central carved stone finial surmounting the apex.

The side east elevation has a replacement uPVC double door at ground floor, with no window openings to the upper levels. The rear north elevation has an assortment of replacement uPVC windows and a half-dormer to the upper level.

The main roof is hipped and slated with pierced clay ridge tiles. Decorative carved stone finials surmount the top of each hip. Carved stone eaves with a dentilled course run along the front and side elevations. The roof includes a brick chimney to the right (east side) with a dentilled course and profiled stepped capping. Rainwater goods are replacement aluminium.

External walls of the front elevation are straw-coloured brick with decorative stone quoins. A string course in red and engineering brick runs below window lintel level, with an additional projecting carved stone string course below the half-dormer. A carved stone plinth runs along the base of the front elevation. The side and rear elevations are rendered.

The two-storey return has an assortment of timber casement windows on cut-stone sills and a square-headed door to the east elevation. The return shares a hipped and pitched roof with the adjacent building's return, and a shared brick chimney rises at the apex of the north gable end. External walls to the return are snecked stone. A yard to the rear is accessed via a gated entrance with pillars and pyramidal stone caps, and is bounded by a dry dash rendered wall.

Historical records show the property was occupied by James Cotton when newly built in 1899, followed by William Porter at an unknown date. William Gardner succeeded Porter in 1901, followed by William Browne in 1903. Thomas J. Ekins occupied the house following Cotton in 1908. The building's history becomes difficult to trace between 1909 and 1936, when it re-emerges in valuation records occupied by Isabella J. Chambers with Eleanor Charles as the immediate lessor. E. Malachy Doris became tenant in 1938, followed by Miss N.P. Harris (later Mrs N.P. Rodgers) in 1940, Ian Wheeler in 1949, and John Gonigle in 1956.

The strong architectural character combined with good quality decorative detailing adds variety and interest to the suburban streetscape.