Kildress Rectory, 6 Rectory Road, Kildress, Cookstown, BT80 9RX

Kildress Rectory is an L-shaped late Georgian house of two storeys, built in 1791 as a rectory for Kildress parish with the aid of a £100 gift from the Board of First Fruits. It stands in a very rural setting, set well back from the public road within extensive grounds approached by a tree-lined tarmac driveway.

The building exemplifies late Georgian architecture in the classical tradition whilst retaining most of its original character and detail. Its walls are harled and whitened with smooth cement rendered reveals to window openings and painted stone cills. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with two red brick chimneys each bearing three modern red pots. Cast iron rainwater goods comprise half-round gutters and circular downpipes with moulded hoppers.

The most distinctive feature is the projecting curved central bay on the east (entrance) front, which is three windows wide and capped with a curved semi-conical roof. The main entrance, facing east, is located in the centre of this bay. It contains an original rectangular timber eight-panelled door with slightly off-horizontal rails and a built-up head at the right-hand side, set in a moulded rectangular surround with a keystone and projecting base blocks. Three stone steps with curved fronts and sides widen from top to bottom to approach the doorway.

The windows are rectangular timber vertically hung sliding sashes with horns, except those on the first floor of the curved bay which have no horns. In the curved bay, ground floor windows are four over four; first floor windows are four over four with the central window three over three. These first floor curved bay windows are curved in plan corresponding to the shape of the bay. On the main façade flanking the central bay, first floor windows are three over three, whilst ground floor windows are large tripartite windows with broad mullions typical of Wyatt, the central lights sashed six over six and side lights two over two.

The south elevation is six windows wide, almost but not quite evenly spaced to both floors. Windows are similarly sashed with horns: three over three to the first floor and six over six to the ground floor. A modern unpainted circular aluminium flue pipe projects near the left-hand end. Projecting from the left-hand end is a single-storey garage, harled and slated to match the house, with modern vertically boarded varnished timber doors and a small two over two sashed window with horns. The garage has modern rectangular section aluminium rainwater goods.

The west (rear) elevation contains a semi-circular headed timber sashed window with six over three lights and four radiating panes, without horns. The projecting rear return and lower single-storey lean-to block in the angle contain rectangular timber windows of fixed light or opening vent type. The lean-to block's open recess contains a later rectangular flush timber door with a glazed panel.

The north elevation of the main front block is two windows wide to each floor, with sashed windows as to the south elevation.

The setting comprises lawns to all four sides of the house, with the rear lawn enclosed by rubble stone walls. A ruinous two-storey range of rubble stone outbuildings extends along the west side. Mature trees enclose the rear garden beyond the boundary walls. The building is a good example of a late Georgian house in the classical tradition, combining plain materials with unusual architectural details to produce a structure of very distinct character and attractive appearance.