Bushypark House, Lisgillalea, Co. Roscommon

The rest of the front elevation follows the disciplined symmetry expected of an early Irish Georgian house, five bays across, two storeys over a basement, with six-over-six pane sash windows lined up on the ground floor. That one eight-sided window under the roofline is the detail that catches the eye and holds it, a small architectural joke in an otherwise formal design.

The house was built around 1720, and its structure still carries the marks of that period even where later alterations have crept in. The first-floor windows are replacements, two-over-two panes rather than the original six-over-six, but the tooled limestone sills beneath them are old. Round-headed openings appear at the rear and in a doorway framed by a limestone block-and-start surround, its fanlight adding a touch of decorative flourish above a heavy timber door studded with iron. A gabled return extends to the back of the house, along with a later two-storey addition, evidence of a building that grew and adapted rather than staying frozen at its moment of construction. Bushypark House has a social history tied closely to Mount Talbot and the surrounding area; at one stage it served as a school for the sons of Protestant clergymen, and it was also home to the ffrench family, whose presence linked the house to the wider network of landed families in the region.

Look for the roughcast render on the walls, giving the exterior a slightly rougher texture than smooth-cut stone, with cement render specifically applied to the basement level. The chimneystacks are rendered too, rising from a pitched slate roof that has weathered the centuries since the house was first raised. Windows on the side elevations sit within recesses, a subtle detail that adds depth to the walls without disrupting their overall plainness. The round-headed window at the rear stands out against the more conventional rectangular openings elsewhere, a quiet variation that rewards a second look.