About
Hezlett House stands on the north Antrim coast at Castlerock, County Londonderry, as one of the most extraordinary domestic survivals in Northern Ireland. Built around 1690, this low thatched cottage is believed to be the oldest surviving thatched dwelling in Northern Ireland — a remarkable testimony to the quality of its original construction and the care of successive generations who maintained it.
The house was built using cruck-frame construction, a technique that stretches back to medieval times. Cruck framing uses pairs of naturally curved timber principals — typically large oak trunks split lengthways — to form the structural ribs of the roof, creating an integrated wall-and-roof structure that distributes the building's weight directly to the ground. This approach, ancient even when Hezlett House was built, produced extraordinarily durable buildings, and the survival of Hezlett House into the twenty-first century is testament to the technique's resilience.
The Hezlett family farmed this land for over two centuries, and the house passed through multiple generations before coming into the care of the National Trust. The furnished interiors have been meticulously presented to reflect domestic rural life across the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries — a layered portrait of how the house evolved as fashions changed and successive generations left their mark. Visitors move through spaces that feel genuinely inhabited: the kitchen range, the butter-making equipment, the modest furnishings and personal effects that speak of a farming family's quiet prosperity.
The coastal setting enhances the visit considerably. Hezlett House sits close to Mussenden Temple and the wider Downhill Demesne — another National Trust property on the cliff edge above the beach at Downhill — creating a natural combined itinerary for visitors exploring the north Londonderry coast. The beach at Castlerock, the Bishop's Gate entrance to the Demesne, and the dramatic Binevenagh escarpment inland all provide exceptional walking opportunities within minutes of the cottage.
Hezlett House is open on a seasonal basis and managed by the National Trust. Its combination of architectural rarity, intimate domestic atmosphere, and spectacular coastal setting makes it one of the most evocative heritage visits on the whole of the Causeway Coast.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Thursday, Friday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Thursday or Friday afternoon in spring or autumn for the most peaceful experience
💡 Visitor Tips
- Hezlett House is only open Thursday to Sunday during the season — always check the National Trust website for current opening dates before making a special journey.
- National Trust members enter free; non-members should check the current admission price online as it is updated annually.
- The cottage interior has low doorways and uneven floors — appropriate footwear is essential, and those with mobility concerns should contact the National Trust in advance.
- Combine your visit with Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne — a 10-minute walk along the lane brings you to the clifftop temple with its spectacular Atlantic views. Together they make a full half-day out.
- Castlerock station is just a short walk away and is served by trains on the Belfast–Londonderry/Derry line via Coleraine — a car-free visit is very feasible.
- The cottage interior is small and group numbers are managed carefully; arrive early or mid-afternoon on weekdays for the most peaceful experience.
- Bring a picnic to enjoy in the grounds — there is no on-site cafe, but the garden and grounds offer a beautiful setting, and Castlerock village has cafes a short walk away.
- Children particularly enjoy the farmyard area and the tactile experience of the old agricultural implements — it works well as part of a wider Causeway Coast family day.
Highlights
The Cruck-Frame Structure
The most architecturally remarkable feature of Hezlett House is its cruck-frame construction — a technique that predates the cottage itself by centuries. Pairs of naturally curved oak timbers were split lengthways and raised to form the structural A-frames of the roof, creating a self-supporting skeleton that carries the weight of the thatch directly to the ground without relying on the walls for structural support.
Three cruck pairs survive in the main body of the house and can be clearly seen from inside the building.
This structural system was falling out of use even in 1690, making Hezlett House one of the last examples of this venerable building technique in Northern Ireland.
The Thatched Roof
Hezlett House is crowned by a deep, beautifully maintained thatched roof — the defining feature that marks it as one of the oldest surviving thatched dwellings in Northern Ireland. The thatch, traditionally of wheat straw or water reed, requires periodic renewal, and the National Trust has maintained the roofing tradition using locally sourced materials wherever possible.
The depth and quality of the thatch, combined with the low eaves that almost reach the ground on the north side, gives the cottage its characteristic hunched, intimate appearance.
Standing beneath the overhang on a rainy day, visitors experience exactly the kind of shelter the original builders intended.
The Kitchen and Range
At the heart of Hezlett House is its kitchen — the hub of domestic life across three centuries of occupation. The open hearth and later iron range dominate the room, surrounded by the tools and vessels of everyday cooking and food preservation: bread crocks, griddle irons, butter churns, and hanging pot hooks.
The kitchen display reflects multiple periods of occupation, with the National Trust's curators carefully layering objects from different eras to create a palimpsest of domestic life rather than a single period reconstruction.
Visitors can smell the old timbers and imagine the warmth of a working kitchen that sustained generations of the Hezlett family.
Furnished Parlour — Three Centuries of Domestic Life
The parlour at Hezlett House has been furnished to reflect the modest prosperity of a successful north Londonderry farming family across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Carefully chosen period furniture, textiles, ceramics, and personal effects create a domestic interior that feels genuinely inhabited rather than museologically clinical.
The choice to present the house as a layered time-capsule — with objects from different periods coexisting as they would in a living home — gives Hezlett House a warmth and authenticity that more rigidly 'restored' historic houses can lack.
Collections
Hezlett House's 'collection' is the building itself and its furnished interiors — an irreplaceable ensemble of vernacular architecture, domestic furnishings, and agricultural implements that spans three centuries of rural life in north Londonderry. The National Trust has furnished the cottage with period-appropriate items drawn from the late seventeenth through to the nineteenth centuries, deliberately avoiding a single-period freeze-frame in favour of a layered domestic portrait.
Key items include period kitchen equipment, agricultural tools, furniture, and textiles.
The structural fabric of the cruck-frame cottage — including three surviving cruck pairs — is itself the primary historic artefact. Archival material documenting the Hezlett family and the architectural history of the building is held in the National Trust's regional collections.
A Farmhouse Through Time — 1690 to the Present
The furnished interiors of Hezlett House, presented as a layered domestic portrait spanning three centuries of occupation by the Hezlett farming family.
📍 Main House
Built to Last — Cruck-Frame Architecture in Ireland
Interpretive exhibition on the history and technique of cruck-frame construction, and the significance of Hezlett House as a surviving example.
📍 Outbuildings
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.