Rockdale House, 39 Rockdale Road, Cookstown, BT80 9BA

Rockdale House is an impressive and well-proportioned early-to-mid 18th century country house built in an austere classical style, constructed in all probability around 1785–87 and most likely built for James Corry Lowry on the occasion of his marriage to Martha Leslie in 1785. It appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1833–34. Despite a date of 1791 inscribed on a step in the basement well, and a listed construction date of 1740–59, there appears to be no firm documentary evidence placing the house earlier than the mid-1780s: it is absent from Taylor and Skinner's road map of 1777 and from William Wilson's Post Chaise Companion of 1786, and is first mentioned in the Belfast News-Letter in 1787. Its scale and appearance closely resemble the now-demolished Pomeroy House, constructed around 1780 for James's brother Robert Lowry, and the two buildings may share the same architect or builder.

The house is a three-bay, three-storey Georgian building with a basement storey, built of coursed rubble stonework — originally harled but now exposed — with ashlar dressings. Raised stone quoins, a plain stone frieze, and a moulded cornice articulate the exterior, and a projecting stringcourse at plinth level marks the top of the basement. Traces of later paint survive on the surface of the stone dressings. As a tall, double-pile house with a heavy cornice and spare detailing, it is wholly characteristic of its period. The roof is hipped and covered with Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses. Two wide lateral chimney stacks, smooth cement-rendered, each carry nine tall water-leaf design chimney pots. A further tall projecting chimney breast on the east elevation, also smooth cement-rendered, carries a cluster of water-leaf pots. Rainwater goods are of cast iron.

The principal entrance faces north. The north elevation is symmetrical, with one window to each side of a central entrance. Windows throughout are rectangular timber vertically-hung sliding sashes, 1 over 1 with horns, set in stone block surrounds with a keystone. In the top storey, the window heads form part of the frieze rather than having individual surrounds.

The entrance doorway is framed by an engaged portico: the original panelled and glazed door is flanked by circular Tuscan columns surmounted by a triangular pediment, with plain narrow sidelights flanked by Tuscan pilasters. Above it at first-floor level is a Palladian window comprising a semi-circular arched centre light with panelled pilasters and a moulded keystone, flanked by narrow sidelights sashed 1 over 1 with horns. Above that, at second-floor level, is a semi-circular lunette of coupled casements each 1 over 1, set in a keystone surround of similar detailing to the Palladian window below. Together these three elements — the engaged portico, Palladian window and semi-circular lunette — form a carefully composed entrance front of notable character.

The main entrance is approached by a wide flight of stone steps bounded by curving plinth walls of cut sandstone, carrying original ornamentally treated iron railings which terminate in openwork cast iron pillars with arched tops, embellished with anthemion and other vegetal motifs. The steps form the top of a projection from the basement, the sides of which are exposed within the basement well. These sides are of cut sandstone and each contains one window, a rectangular 2-pane fixed light. To each side of the steps in the basement area of the main block there is a narrow window, sashed 1 over 1 with horns, partly recessed beneath the steps, in addition to the main basement windows that align with those in the storeys above. One of the steps within the basement well, next to the east side of the basement projection, is inscribed '1791 R'.

The east elevation has similar walling, cornice and roofing to the entrance front. There are two windows at second-floor level, sashed as described above and in stone block surrounds. At ground-floor level on the right-hand side there is a doorway containing an original 12-panelled, partly glazed timber door set in block surrounds with a keystone, approached by a short flight of stone steps with ironwork railings. Much of the east wall of the main block is covered by a 19th century extension, four windows wide and two storeys in height above a basement. The walling of the extension matches that of the main block but lacks raised quoins. The extension is flat-topped, its hipped slated roof concealed behind a parapet. Windows on all three exposed sides of the extension are set in block surrounds with keystones and are sashed 1 over 1 or 2 over 2 with horns; some are set in semi-circular or segmental arched surrounds with margin lights incorporated in the glazing. There is a doorway in the basement on the north side of the extension, and a doorway at ground-floor level on its east side containing a modern panelled door with a radial fanlight.

The south or rear elevation is four windows wide, three storeys high above a basement, with roofing, walling and window types matching the entrance front. The west elevation is of similar materials but is largely blind, with one window at ground-floor level and one below it in the basement, sashed as described.

The house stands in a very rural area, set well back from the public road within its own extensive farmland. It is approached by a long driveway winding through the farmland and terminating in an extensive area of hard standing in front of the house and to the east side, beyond which grassed areas lead to farmland on all sides. At the north-east corner of the 19th century extension is an open basement yard approached by a curving flight of stone steps, all bounded by sandstone plinth walls surmounted by iron railings. The steps descend beneath a segmental archway into a stone-flagged sunken yard surrounded by smooth rendered walls. Within these walls are segmental arched openings leading into segmental rubble stone vaults.

To the west of the house is a farmyard containing much-altered stone outbuildings, one archway of which displays the date 1827 inscribed on a keystone. Further to the west is a derelict walled garden, its outer faces of rubble stonework and its inner faces mainly of red brick, with an elliptically arched gateway bearing the date 1823 inscribed on both the inner and outer keystones.

The main entrance gateway comprises a pair of ironwork gates with leaf-topped railings, stamped 'Kennan & Sons, Fishamble St, Dublin', mounted on a pair of panelled ashlar sandstone piers. These are flanked by double-curved screens of sandstone plinth walls surmounted by ironwork railings of similar style to the gates, terminating in end piers matching the gate piers. The detailing of the gates is early 18th century in style. Inside the main entrance gateway stands a mid-19th century single-storey gate lodge, which has now been incorporated into a one-and-a-half storey house of 2002 to its rear and is visually subservient to the newer building.

There is also a secondary entrance gateway further to the west, which may originally have been the principal approach. It is in poor condition and comprises a pair of rusticated sandstone piers with swept caps, now missing their gates, flanked on each side by concave curved screens of low plinth walls with plain railings incorporating central pedestrian gates, and terminating in similar piers. Set in front of the screen walls, forming a vestigial forecourt to the main gateway, is a pair of very large boulders, possibly an allusion to the name of the house, Rockdale.