Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/45/013

Address :
731 Antrim Road Belfast BT15 4EL

Townland:
Skegoneil

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/1

IG Ref:
J3332 7893

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Large, two and a half-storey decorative red brick late Victorian suburban villa of 1894, in a free style with typical eclectic mix of vaguely classical and vaguely Arts & Craft detailing, including decorative mouldings to openings, canted bays, fretted bargeboards, tall chimneys etc. The property is set on the E side of the Antrim Road at the junction with Downview Avenue and is surrounded by a relatively large garden. To the centre of the ground floor of the symmetrical south facing front façade, is a two storey bay which projects forward slightly. A short flight of steps leads to the front door. This has a curved parapet / string which is finished at either side with a classical Greek urn set on a small plinth. The timber front door is relatively large and has six panels with the upper panels having semicircular arched heads. To the left and right are side panels with semicircular headed, acid-etched lights over timber aprons. Flanking the door opening are chamfered, but otherwise plain, pilasters, on which is supported a bracketed, gabled, timber porch. The ‘pediment’ is in pierced timber and has a segmental arched base. Eaves to the slated roof over hang. The apex has a small timber finial. Directly above the doorway ensemble is a moulded brick stringcourse. The string course comprises of a series of square ‘tiles’ each with stylised flower motif. The string course also has plain painted quoins to each corner. To the upper portion is a plain painted projecting cill course. Centred on the first floor is a segmental arch headed sash window with no astragals. The top of the bay is formed as a gabled half dormer. To the centre is a pair of semicircular arch headed windows with brick archivolt and moulded and painted keystone (with bunch of grapes motif). The gabled roof overhangs and the pediment is formed in pierced timber. The slated roof has a decorative ridge and a small clay finial. To the left and right of the bay on the ground floor is a single sash window, as before but larger and each with a moulded and painted pediment supported on consul brackets. There are similar windows (without pediments) to first floor. These rest on the decorative string course (which extends around the E, S and W facades). The eaves course is in moulded brick with a reeded motif and this continues around the E, S and W facades also. To the left side of the E face is a two storey flat roofed canted bay with a segmental arch headed sash window , as before, to each face on both ground and first floors The ground floor of the bay is finished in plain render while the upper section continues the brick detailing. To the ground floor right of this is a paired sash window with a (moulded and painted)) bracketed projecting cornice and blocking course detail over. To the first floor is a similar pair of windows. These windows have brick archivolt and moulded dripstone in place of the decorative detail. Each of these pairs has a rendered mullion. Above first floor window heads, the reeded eaves course continues as a string course. To the centre of the gable is a triple window arrangement. Each window is semicircular arch headed with a moulded drip stone and painted and moulded keystone, with bunch of grape motif, as before. To the apex of the gable of the roof overhang is a decorative timber infill panel which is inscribed with the date 1894. To the far right is the E side of the rear two-storey return. The return is almost full width with the E and W sides set back slightly from the line of the E and W facades of the main house. These walls merge (to N) with the yard walls. The walls may have lean-to out houses attached but it was not possible to confirm this. The rear of the main roof continues down in the same plane to cover the return (which is lower). The sides of this roof are hipped. To the ground floor of the E side of the return is a door to the left with a sash window to the right. The heads have brick archivolts and moulded dripstones. The door may originally have been a window. A small stair with modern wrought iron railings serves the door. To the first floor there is a single flat arch window. The W façade of the main house is identical to that to the E excepting only that the two-storey bay has a hipped and slated roof. To the left is the W side of the rear return which has a single sash window to the ground floor and three evenly spaced narrower windows to the first floor. The N face ground floor is obscured by the high yard wall. To the left of the first floor is a large sash window. To the immediate right of this is a similar but much smaller sash window. The roof is covered in natural slate and has decorative ridge tiles and finials. To the front and rear are two tall chimney stacks (four in all) each with decorative brick corbelling and string courses. Each has (?original) clay chimney pots. To the N face of the roof are a number of cast iron roof lights. Rw goods are in cast iron.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This house was built in 1894, possibly for the linen merchant James Stewart. It is shown on the OS map of 1901 and is listed in the early 1900s editions of the ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ under the name ‘Beechmount’. References- Primary sources 1 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ (Belfast News-Letter, 1895- ) 2 PRONI OS/6/1/57/3 OS map, Co Antrim sh.57, c.1901

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Large, two and a half-storey decorative red brick late Victorian suburban villa of 1894, in a free style with typical eclectic mix of vaguely classical and vaguely Arts & Craft detailing, including decorative mouldings to openings, canted bays, fretted bargeboards, tall chimneys etc.

General Comments

Date of Survey

19 January 2001