4/6 Stonard Street, Moneymore, Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, BT45 7PN

A pleasing early to mid-19th-century house and shop in provincial Georgian style, built between 1820 and 1839 by architect William John Booth. The building has handsome white limestone wall facings in coursed squared rubble with brick trim, though now painted on the principal façade. It lacks some of Booth's typical architectural detail but illustrates the use of local limestone in contrast to the more sophisticated ashlar sandstone employed in later buildings such as the cornmarket and other residential structures. Mill Lane and the boundary wall to the west are essential elements of the building and its setting.

The structure comprises a 5-bay-wide, 2-storey stone-faced house and shop front with a back return and outbuildings, with slate roof and basement. The elevation to Stonard Street is asymmetrical, with the shopfront positioned at the east end and an arched recessed house entrance at the west end, flanked by double-hung sliding sash windows with 12 panes on each side. The shopfront features a central recessed double-door entrance with fanlight and glazed upper panels to each door. On either side stands a single large plate-glass clear window, with narrow shop windows returning toward the entrance door. The shopfront is framed with narrow parallel pilasters and topped by a full-length painted namefascia with cornice and bottom moulding. Beneath the window sills sits a painted plaster panel.

Stonard Street slopes steeply from east to west. A flight of 5 steps ascends to the house entrance, which is distinguished by a boldly profiled arched moulded architrave with a concave curved recess. The door comprises 5 panels, with 4 fielded panels and the lower section in vertical tongue-and-groove sheeting. Above sits a semi-circular fanlight with quasi-fanned glazing bars. The door and fanlight are further recessed with reveals, and the concave surround is smooth rendered and painted in gloss. On each side of the entrance stand 12-pane double-hung sliding sash windows with painted brick trim and painted sandstone cills. At first-floor level are 5 further 12-pane double-hung sliding sash windows, centred over the elements below, with 2 positioned above the shopfront. The windows are unevenly spaced. At basement level, flanking the house door, are one 9-pane double-hung sliding sash window and a smaller 4-pane light inserted below the entrance steps. Along the house frontage, a basement area projects forward with wrought-iron railings mounted on the kerb and returned up the entrance steps. At gutter level runs a shallow overhang, returned on the gables with half-round metal gutters and no downpipes on the main façade. The wall is built in coursed squared white limestone rubble with toothed sandstone quoins, painted. The roof is hipped with natural slates. Two large smooth-rendered unpainted chimney stacks with low pots rise above, with dark ridge and hip tiles. A street lamp mounted on the façade has exposed electric cabling.

The elevation to Mill Lane extends 7 bays long. Five bays rise to 2 storeys, with 2 nine-pane double-hung sliding sash windows at ground floor (one boarded up) and a sheeted door. At first floor stand 4 twelve-pane double-hung sliding sash windows and 1 blank opening infilled with red brick, all with brick trim. The walls are built in coursely roughly squared white limestone rubble with quoins at the north corner. Corbelled brick sits beneath the gutter. The roof matches the front façade. Beyond the main 2-storey section, a single-storey bay contains one window, and the final bay rises 1½ storeys with a ground-floor door and hoist door above. The gable at the gateway in Stonard Street features a single 12-pane double-hung sliding sash window at ground and first floors, asymmetrically placed. Walls are faced as on the main elevation. The walls generally employ coursed squared white limestone rubble but incorporate red brick in areas where alterations occurred in the distant past—notably in the angle of the back return, where a brick projection occurs at basement and ground floors to accommodate an internal stairway from shop to basement.

The rear of the building rises 3 storeys high, including the basement, and displays a varied arrangement of windows continuing along the back return. Most are 12-pane double-hung sliding sash windows. A flight of steps provides access to the back at ground-floor level. The return on the yard side measures 3 bays long and 3 storeys high, reducing to 2 storeys over 1 bay. A further 2-floor return is formed parallel to the main building, enclosing the yard. A gable with 4 floors has one roof pitch sweeping down to 2-storey height. Beneath the main return sit 3 segmented arched gateways, 2 marked by sliding doors. Several other single sheeted doors provide additional access. Wall and roof construction match the primary elevation. A missing trunkhead bore the date 1827 cast upon it.

The building functions as a combined house and shopfront fronting Stonard Street, which slopes considerably from east to west, creating a basement area toward the west end. Mill Lane bounds the east side, while a gateway entrance provides access to the yard and rear of the building.

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs state that "From High Street extends Stonard Street westwards, and consists of a few neat 2 storey houses built by the company and occupied by shopkeepers", a description that probably includes 4/6 Stonard Street. However, the building appears to have undergone substantial alteration and enlargement since that period. Booth's plan of Moneymore from 1832 shows a back return at the west end of the house, while a plan from 1839 depicts the back return at a different location, though not quite as it exists today. The Ordnance Survey Map of 1906 shows the building in its present form with the various back returns in place. The structure has most likely been substantially rebuilt and extended since Booth's time, though the architectural character has been retained through the use of white limestone facings with brick trim. The building's function—serving as both shop and residence—has likewise continued without interruption. The extensive return and outbuildings historically contained a warehouse and stables with a gateway from Stonard Street and additional access from Mill Lane. Just below the west gable ran the mill race, which supplied a mill pond for the early mill. The present occupant had lived there for some 60 years and the family carried on a hardware business. More recently the shop served as a library and later as an antique business, and it is presently vacant.

The building stands within a conservation area and is listed in Grade B1 for its architectural and historical interest, specifically for its style, proportion, ornamentation, authorship by William John Booth, and local significance, though certain alterations have detracted from its original character.