66 Drumhubbert Road, Stewartstown, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, BT71 5EB

66 Drumhubbert Road, Stewartstown

A single-storey thatched house located approximately three miles east of Stewartstown, thought to have been built around 1760. The building is recorded on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 and appears in the second valuation records when occupied by James Abernethy, who leased it from William McGaw at a rateable value of £1-10-0. A descendant of James Abernethy continues to live in the property.

The house faces west and overlooks a small topiary garden. It is finished with roughcast and whitewashed external walls. The thatch roof sits between pre-cast concrete flag skews with square-cut eaves. Three corbelled chimney stacks are present: two on the gables above the skews and one over the kitchen hearth, each fitted with a single chimney pot.

The front elevation centres on a timber-sheeted entrance door protected by a square-jambed windbreak porch under an extension of the thatched roof. Five 6/6 vertically sliding sashed windows light this section: two to the left (north) of the entrance and three to the right (south). The building extends with natural slate roofing in two planes. The first is slightly recessed from the main house and contains two 6/6 vertically sliding sashed windows, followed by a projecting section with a bay roofed by a lean-to extension of the main roof containing a single vertically sliding sashed window, delineated by concrete skews.

At the rear of the thatched part is a kitchen extension with pre-cast concrete flagged skews, containing three 6/6 vertically sliding sashed windows of reduced size and a timber-sheeted half door with a viewing panel. The rear wall of the thatched house has one 3/6 vertically sliding sashed window on the left-hand side of the kitchen, followed by a recessed portion with two similar windows and a projection containing one vertically sliding window of the usual type. The window frames lack sash stops and sills are of traditional depths at the leading faces. Metal rainwater goods are present throughout.

The house underwent significant restoration in 1980 by Irish Thatchers Ltd, Dungannon, with work to the thatch covering, chimney, wall finishes and windows. A major restoration scheme was carried out during 1999-2000, which included re-thatching by Kit Davis using water reed. This work involved extensive reconstruction including the entire southern end and rear return, as the southern gable had collapsed at the beginning of the work. The extensions blend well with the old structure, and internally the original layout remains largely intact apart from the insertion of a bathroom, with new materials used in a traditional manner.