House design guide
What Leitrim wants your home to look like
This guide helps homeowners build or extend rural houses in Leitrim in a way that respects traditional country architecture. It encourages simple, linear single-storey or dormer forms that nestle quietly into the natural landscape rather than sitting prominently on skylines. Homeowners should use high-quality, uniform finishes like plain plaster and blue-black slate while preserving historic field boundaries.
Accepted house types & forms
What they want to see
Encouraged by the guide
Sheltered and blending site selection(Page 3, 4)
Houses should nestle into folds or gentle slopes of the landscape using existing trees and planting as natural protection rather than breaking the skyline.
Traditional linear plan form(Page 5)
Simple shapes with narrow plan forms and pitched roofs are highly successful and respect the Leitrim countryside.
Blue/black slate and plain plaster(Page 7)
Uniform external finishes such as blue/black slate, flat profile concrete tiles, and plain plaster or dash walls are favored.
Preservation of timber sash windows(Page 13)
Narrow windows with a vertical emphasis and sliding timber sash designs are highly recommended over PVC windows.
Retaining and augmenting hedgerows(Page 9)
Existing hedges and stone walls should be kept, and new boundaries should use untreated timber posts with native hedging plants.
Subsidiary extensions(Page 11)
Extensions must look clearly smaller and secondary to the original main house, matching its original materials and style.
Robust chimneys on the ridge line(Page 21)
Chimneys should look solid and robust, and they should ideally sit directly on the ridge line of the roof.
What gets refused
Discouraged by the guide
Suburban house designs(Page 5)
Avoid standard suburban-style houses and layouts that fail to respond to the natural features of rural sites.
Visually obtrusive ridge-line locations(Page 4)
Avoid placing houses where they break the skyline or water line when viewed from public roads.
Major earthworks(Page 4)
Do not force a house onto a steep slope using massive excavations or creating artificial, unnatural landforms.
Red brick and multi-finish walls(Page 8, 10)
Avoid using red brick, unplastered concrete boundary walls, or a chaotic mix of multiple different wall finishes.
Whimsical or mock-historical features(Page 8)
Avoid concrete balustrades, non-functional fake shutters, mock Georgian or Tudor elements, Spanish arches, and open porches.
Horizontal windows and corner placements(Page 14)
Avoid wide windows with horizontal emphasis or putting windows too close to corners, which weakens the appearance.
Exposed rubble stone walls(Page 27)
Avoid leaving rubble stone walls exposed, as they are neither traditional nor healthy for the structure.
Materials & finishes
- Blue/black slate
- Flat profile concrete tiles
- Plain plaster or dash external finishes
- Simple painted timber front doors
- Local stone (only in areas where stone is prevalent)
- Unpainted treated timber post and rail fencing
Roofs & form
- Traditional linear plan form
- Pitched roofs with pitches between 35 and 45 degrees
- Single storey designs for visually prominent sites
- Gable walls projecting above the plain of the roof
- Dormers located midway along the line of the eaves and flush with the front wall
Siting & landscape
- Nestle in sheltered, naturally protected spots on gentle slopes
- Avoid breaking the skyline or water line from public views
- Retain and protect existing native hedges, trees, and stone walls
- Infill development limited to filling small gaps of 30m to 40m on developed roads
- Set back boundaries must reflect the original form