The building has been altered over time, which is not unusual in itself, but what makes it quietly interesting is what survives inside: a set of internal corbels, stone projections built into the walls to support the attic floor, which may point to a much earlier phase of construction than the house's present appearance suggests.

Corbelling of this kind, where stones are set into masonry to carry a floor or roof load rather than using timber joists alone, is associated with early building traditions in Ireland, and here the technique has led the archaeologist Edmond O'Donovan to suggest the house may have origins in the seventeenth century. If that reading is correct, what looks from the outside like a fairly ordinary rural house could preserve in its upper storey one of the older domestic structures in the area, its age concealed beneath later modifications. The location beside Derryville bog adds a certain logic to that longevity; bogland margins were often settled early, offering both peat for fuel and firm ground for building at the same time.