35 Ballynanny Road, Lisdoart, Ballygawley, BT70 2LZ

35 Ballynanny Road, Lisdoart, Ballygawley

This is a one-and-a-half-storey rural farmhouse of pre-1834 construction, whose present appearance — with canted bays and a half-dormer to the front — dates from a major refurbishment most likely carried out in 1893. It is a good, little-changed example of a 19th-century rural dwelling that retains its later detailing, including pebbledash render and canted bays, together with an interesting collection of vernacular outbuildings arranged in a linear layout and around an informal farmyard. The whole is set within an unspoiled rural landscape.

Setting and Site

The property sits within rolling countryside approximately 3 kilometres southwest of Ballygawley, about 300 metres to the west of Ballynanny Road, and is surrounded by small, irregular-shaped fields. The roughly square plot slopes from west to east and slightly from south to north. The house lies along the western boundary of the site, with the farmyard in the southeastern corner and the garden to the northeast. Immediately behind the house and its adjoining outhouses runs an open drainage ditch.

Form and Layout

The house is gable-ended, with single-storey canted bays to the east-facing front and a single-storey rear kitchen return to the west. Attached to the north gable is a row of stone-built outhouses arranged in the typical vernacular linear fashion. To the east side, a range of outbuildings is loosely grouped around a small rectangular farmyard. These are referred to as Outbuilding One (west side of the farmyard), Outbuilding Two (north side), Outbuilding Three (east side), and Outbuilding Four (south side). A small stone-built piggery sits on the northern boundary of the site.

Exterior — Front (East) Elevation

The eastern front is asymmetrical. A single-storey, hipped-roof canted bay sits either side of a right-of-centre front door. The flat-headed door opening has a painted, moulded render surround. Directly above the door is a gabled half-dormer.

Exterior — Rear (West) Elevation

The rear façade is roughly symmetrical, with an almost central gabled single-storey return. To the left is a small window opening; to the right is a wider window opening. The northern and western faces of the return are blank, and a squat, flat-headed door opening is positioned to the right side of its southern face.

Exterior — North Gable

The exposed section of the northern gable, which rises above the adjoining outhouse, has a first-floor window opening to the left side but is otherwise blank.

Exterior — South Elevation

The south façade is symmetrical, with a small window opening either side at upper-floor level. The ground floor is blank. A small, now-dilapidated timber greenhouse is set to the right side.

Materials and Detailing

The main roof and the return roof are pitched; the roofs to the canted bays are hipped. The main roof and the bay roofs are covered with natural slate, and the bay roofs feature a decorative pattern formed with diamond-shaped slates. The return roof is covered with corrugated asbestos sheeting. Brick chimneystacks with corbelled caps and plain clay pots rise from either side of the main roof. The sides of the roof are flanked with shallow, concrete-capped parapets. The timber verges to the dormer gable carry scalloped decoration. Rainwater goods are largely cast-iron, with some sections in uPVC.

The front and gable walls are finished in pebbledash render with plain cement-rendered moulded quoins with bevelled edges and some slightly naïve decorative details. The western gable is decorated with a series of smooth render bands in imitation of timber framing, while the exposed area of the northern gable is similarly, though more plainly, decorated. The rear façade is finished with smooth, ruled-and-lined render. Window openings are framed with smooth rendered bands with decorative rendered keystones, and below the stone sills of the upper-level windows is a decorative cement-rendered apron.

The window to the right rear has a Crittall-style steel frame; all other windows are one-over-one timber sash. The front door is a circa 1930s timber-panelled example with a glazed oval panel. The rear door is plain and timber-sheeted.

Adjoining Outhouses

Attached to and slightly set back from the north gable of the house is a row of three outhouses that step down in height from south to north, following the slope of the ground.

The southernmost outhouse has a flat-headed door to the left of centre on its front face and one flat-headed window opening to the rear (west) face. The central outhouse has two flat-headed door openings — one to the far left and one in the middle — with a window opening to the right of each (the left-hand window being much smaller than the right-hand one); the rear face has no openings. The third and northernmost outhouse is a lean-to against the gable of its southern neighbour, with a flat-headed door opening to the east face, a small square central window opening to the north, and no openings to the west.

The roofs to outhouses one and two are pitched; outhouse three has a lean-to roof. All three are sheeted with corrugated iron. Walls are whitewashed rubble with a painted plinth. Doors are timber-sheeted with stable-door arrangements. Window frames are a mixture of Crittall-style steel frames and fixed timber lights. Some openings are blocked. At the time of inspection, the central outhouse was completely filled with chopped firewood; the other outhouses were locked and access was not given.

Outbuilding One

This is a gabled rubble-stone outbuilding with a later concrete-block-built lean-to containing a toilet attached to its north end. The eastern face has a flat-headed central door opening with a timber-sheeted stable door. Each gable has a small louvred opening; otherwise the walls are blank. There is a door to the western side of the lean-to. The main building walls are whitewashed random rubble with a painted plinth. Both the main building and lean-to roofs are covered with corrugated iron. The toilet is plainly detailed with a concrete floor and rendered walls; the other room was locked and access was not given.

Outbuilding Two

This is a long, low, gable-ended range. The western gable has a wide flat-headed door opening with paired doors. To the right side of the north façade is a small square window opening, and the eastern gable is blank. To the right side of the south face is a further wide flat-headed door opening with paired doors, similar to that on the western gable, while to the left side there is a window opening. The roof and walls are covered with corrugated iron, which rest on plain collar trusses and a simple timber frame. The floor is covered with gravel. Window frames are timber.

Outbuilding Three

This is a tall hay shed with a barrel-vaulted roof. To the left of centre of the western façade is a large opening with a sliding vehicular door. Either side of the upper level is a translucent panel, and to the far right is a small window and door. The northern gable has two high-level translucent panels. The southern gable and the rear east face are blank. The corrugated cladding is supported on plain radial trusses and a simple timber frame. The internal floor is covered with gravel.

Outbuilding Four

This is a low concrete-block-built range. To the left side of the northern face a wide opening is filled with a timber-sheeted door and corrugated iron panel; to the right side is a wide opening used for storage. The roof is covered with corrugated iron.

There is also a small rubble-stone outbuilding on the northern boundary of the site with a lean-to corrugated iron roof and a single timber-sheeted door. The farmyard is covered with gravel.

Historical Background

A structure matching the size and location of the present house — though without the attached outbuildings — appears on the Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1834, but is not recorded in the near-contemporary valuation. A slightly longer building appears on the revised map of 1854 and is recorded in the second valuation of 1858 as occupied by James and Henry McMaster, with a modest rateable value of 10 shillings. Henry McMaster is noted as the sole occupant by 1876. By 1893, a William Wishart is listed as resident and the rateable value had risen to £2 10s — a jump that strongly suggests a significant upgrading of the property, possibly including the addition of the canted bays and the raising of the wall height or replacement of the roof, though the valuers give no explicit indication of changes. By 1901, a Henry McMaster — likely a son or other relative of the previous Henry — is recorded as occupier and freeholder, having acquired the property outright from the Moutray (Favour Royal) estate.

The 1907 Ordnance Survey 25-inch map shows the house along with a small section to the south gable (possibly the glasshouse in a longer form), the northern outbuilding and its lean-to, but not the outhouse directly abutting the north gable, nor any of the freestanding outbuildings. In 1913, the valuers recorded the building's dimensions (29 × 18 × 15 feet, with offices of 13 × 15 × 11 and 24 × 10 × 10), which may suggest that some further change had taken place around that time, though again no details are given. By 1936 all of the present structures were in place, and by 1956 George McMaster is noted as owner. By 1964 the valuers describe the property simply as "offices and land", implying the house may not have been occupied at that time, though its internal appearance confirms it was occupied again at a later date. A member of the Armstrong family became owner in 1969, and the house has remained with a relative of that family since.