Coolnafranky House, Molesworth Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8PF

Coolnafranky House, Molesworth Road, Cookstown

Coolnafranky House is a well-proportioned detached two-storey former house built in approximately 1858 in squared, rock-faced sandstone. It was originally known as Loymount and was constructed for James Gunning, who, in partnership with James Moore, had purchased much of the Stewart of Killymoon Cookstown estate in 1851. The house is recorded in the 1859 valuation at a rateable value of £60. The identity of the architect is not known. The property is now used as the administrative building of Cookstown Grammar and Intermediate School, having been acquired by the Tyrone Education Committee in 1951 along with its grounds for the construction of the present school complex.

The house shares group value with the nearby Molesworth Gatehouse. The contrasting architectural styles of the main house and its gate lodge add particular interest: the main house is designed in a restrained, mildly classical style, while the gate lodge, built in 1878 by John B. Gunning-Moore — who had succeeded to the property in 1877 — is distinctly Victorian in character. In 1890, valuers noted the addition of a new peach house to the property, but no other major alterations are recorded thereafter. The property passed to or was acquired by an Isabella Roche sometime between 1930 and 1935, remaining with her until the 1951 acquisition by the Tyrone Education Committee. The restrained ornamentation is typical of the era and is well preserved. Although some detail has been lost and there have been some alterations to the layout, the interior is substantially complete. Recent school buildings have been sited well away from the house, so that much of the original setting remains quite well preserved.

The house is set on a slight rise, set back from Molesworth Road within its former grounds and accessed via a long laneway. The Molesworth Gate Lodge stands at the entrance to this laneway.

North Front Elevation

The front north elevation faces onto the lawns and entrance drive and is three windows in width. At ground floor level, a single-storey entrance porch projects forward from the centre of the façade. This porch has double rusticated pilasters to each side of the central doorway, supporting a carved stone cornice and plain frieze. The doorway is set within a round-headed recess and features a square-headed door with a round-headed overlight, formed as a glazed and timber-panelled double door. The porch is raised on two cut-stone steps. The side elevations of the porch — both west and east — have double pilasters to the outside and single pilasters to the inside, also supporting the cornice and frieze. Within each side elevation is a round-headed window with a cut-stone panelled stall-riser to the base, set on a cut-stone sill. The entrance porch is surmounted by a decorative castellated parapet incorporating a decorative oculus, which appears to have been originally intended to receive a plaque, now missing. The ground floor windows to the main house are square-headed with smooth and carved cut-stone surrounds, a projecting carved stone cornice over, and splayed cut-stone sills.

West and East Side Elevations

The west side elevation is four bays in width. Windows to both the ground and first floors are square-headed with smooth and carved cut-stone surrounds. There is a projecting carved stone cornice over the ground floor windows and splayed cut-stone sills to all windows.

The east side elevation has two windows to the left, a projecting bay slightly off-centre, and a projecting chimneystack to the right. Windows throughout are square-headed with one-over-one timber sash frames. The projecting bay features a square-headed window to the ground floor and a semi-circular-headed window to the first floor, both with carved stone surrounds. The chimneystack has a slight projection, is wider at the base, and steps inwards towards the top; it is visible above parapet level.

Rear South Elevation

The rear south elevation is partially obscured by a later single-storey extension. A mixture of square-headed timber sliding sash and casement windows is visible at ground and first floor level, along with timber-sheeted doors at both levels. The external wall steps slightly inward into a recess towards the corner. There is a carved and profiled stone projection with a diamond-shaped cut-stone finial over.

Walls and Roof

External walls are of squared, rock-faced sandstone with a projecting ashlar cut-stone base. There is a continuous cut-stone cornice above the first floor windows and an upstanding parapet at roof level. To the parapet of both the north front and west side elevations, there is a central round-headed projection with cut-stone cornicing and a rounded finial on top. Below each of these projections is a cut-granite keystone with a carved crest set within it. Behind the parapet sits a hipped roof. There are three chimneys in matching sandstone with profiled stepped cappings. The chimneystack to the southeast has an integral round-headed bellcote within it. Rainwater goods are cast iron.

Returns and Extensions

The two-storey sandstone return to the southeast is pitched and hipped. Its north elevation is gable-ended with a projecting chimney to the centre in matching sandstone with profiled stepped capping. There are square-headed timber casement and sliding sash windows to this elevation, and a stone wall enclosure at ground floor level with a timber-sheeted door. The east side elevation and south rear elevation also have square-headed windows with matching frames. The external walls are sandstone to match the main block, with chamfered corners and quoin stones to the edges. The roof is slated and hipped, with replacement aluminium rainwater goods.

The rear single-storey extension has a mixture of square-headed timber casement windows and a door to the rear south elevation. Its roof is hipped and pitched with a glazed roof lantern to the centre. Rainwater goods are replacement uPVC.