Hezlett House, castlerock

Hezlett House is one of Northern Ireland oldest surviving buildings and is currently owned by the National Trust. The current structure hides the original timber frame of the house, but the beautiful white walls are in stark contrast with the tatched roof.

We paid the entrance (£ 25.10) into the house which i thought was a bit on the steep side for a family of 5 and 2 pensioners (no discount for pensioners) , but luckily it also included entrance to the nearby Downhill Demesne.
Where we had a brilliant time in Northern Ireland, I find the National trust charging prices which are too high. Their yearly membership seems to be good value, but for the tourist who is only in Northern Ireland for a couple of days and buys tickets at the entrance, they are steeply priced. A similar story goes for Giants Causeway, where if you are in the know you can enter for free if you avoid the visitor centre which is build in such a way as to capture tourists into paying an entrance fee, but later more on this. 
Back to beautiful Hezlett house, where we entered the house and found ourselves in the kitchen. The house is furnished with mid-Victorian furniture. Behind the kitchen was a small washroom which had a stair to the top floor. On the top floor is a bedroom under the roof. What we noticed is that all the beds are very small, and it was explained to us that in those early days, people used to sleep in an almost upright position.

The next room was the room where the farmworkers used to sleep, some of them being as young as 14 years old. The room, which didn't have any windows, would have been very dark.
Comfort was far to be sought, bags on the ground being the beds.

The next room showed us a deeper insight into how the roof was built. The exposed cruck-truss roof construction is a piece of art in itself. Heading back downstairs, we found ourselves walking through the tiny rooms , one being a nice living room with the child's bedroom beside it. The old pictures in the room gave us a feel for what life must have been like back in those days.

After the house, we wandered through the gardens and into the stable, one of them being converted into a children's playroom where you had pages to draw on, a play farm,... a perfect location to play with the kids when it rains.
So, Hezlett house is worth a visit especially with the nearby Downhill Demesne included in the ticket price.