Ardvarnock House

Detached three-bay two-storey house on ‘L-shaped’ plan, built c. 1850, having two-storey extension to north. Hipped natural purple slate roof with projecting cut stone eaves course, cast-iron rainwater goods, and a central pair of smooth rendered chimneystacks having flat copings and decorative clay-ware pots over. Flat felted roof to rear extension. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth course, and with raised smooth rendered block-and-start quoins to the corners. Square-headed windows openings with stone sills, and with six-over-six pane hornless timber sliding sash windows at ground floor level, and three-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows at first floor level. Central segmental-headed door opening having timber panelled double-doors with square, oval and hexagonal panels, spoked fanlight with coloured glass panels to margins, and doorcase comprising a pair of timber Tuscan columns supporting entablature over with central floral\patera motif. Stone threshold to doorway. Set back from road in extensive mature landscape grounds in the rural countryside to the west of Raphoe and the north-east of Convoy. Detached five-bay two-storey outbuilding to the rear (north) having pitched natural slate roof with some surviving cast-iron rainwater goods, roughcast rendered rubble stone walls, square-headed window openings with replacement windows, and square-headed doorways and loading bays with battened timber doors and half-doors. Gateway to the south comprising a pair of splayed smooth rendered ruled-and-lined gate piers (on square-plan) having a pair of wrought-iron gates. Gateway flanked by curved quadrant sections of smooth rendered boundary walls having integral pointed-arched pedestrian entrance to the east with replacement gate. Single stage folly (on circular-plan) to site having conical roof over.

This impressive, well-maintained and attractive house, of mid-nineteenth century date, retains its early form and character. Its visual expression is enhanced by the retention of all salient fabric including natural slate roof and timber sliding sash windows. The doorway with attractive timber panelled double doors with oval, square and hexagonal motifs, spoked fanlight with etched and coloured glass and the doorcase with Tuscan columns and well-detailed entablature over provides and attractive and effective central focus. This building is an example of the language of classical architecture stripped to its barest fundamental elements, which creates a fine dwelling in a subtle style. This is exhibited through features such as the rigid symmetry to the main elevation, the central doorway, and the window openings that diminish in scale towards the eaves. Its appearance is very similar to many early nineteenth-century Church of Ireland rectories and its style was perhaps a little old fashioned for its mid-nineteenth century construction date (not depicted on Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map of c. 1837). Situated in attractive mature grounds to the west of Raphoe and the north-east of Convoy, this building is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area. The simple two-storey outbuilding to the rear adds to the context and setting while the attractive gateway to the south with rendered gate piers, attractive wrought-iron gates and attractive pointed-arched pedestrian entrance adds appealing incident to the roadscape to the south. The round folly to site with conical roof (not viewed) over is an interesting addition to the built heritage of the local area in its own rights. This was the home of a William Witherow in 1881 and a James Witherow in 1894 (Slater’s Directories).