Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/14/002 B

Address :
9 Sandown Park Belfast Co. Antrim BT5 6GU

Townland:
Ballycloghan

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
13/03/1987 00:00:00

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:
147-3

IG Ref:
J3802 7357

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Exterior Description and Setting: Semi-detached two-bay, two-storey with attic asymmetrical Tudor-Revival brick and render building on ‘L-shaped’ plan built 1897, having three-storey entrance bay with projecting canted gable to south-east and projecting ground floor to south. Three-storey rear extension to north built c.2000. Building now forms part of an apartment complex ‘Sandown Court’ along with 82 Sandown Road (HB26/14/002A) adjoining. The building is located to the north of Sandown Road and overlooks Sandown Park, which is now a private road. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends. Ogee moulded metal guttering and circular downpipes. Pyramidal hipped roof over entrance bay with weather vane finial. Painted bargeboard to projecting gable. Hipped slate roof to south and west dormers with leaded ridge. Projecting two-stage chamfered brick central chimney stack adjoining 82 Sandown Road (HB.26.14.002A) having corbelled eaves to flat coping with octagonal terracotta chimney pots. Decorative fluted and chamfered chimney stack to east. Segment-headed and square-headed windows throughout with one over one timber sliding sash windows, unless otherwise stated. South elevation: Red brick ground floor on rock-faced squared and snecked sandstone plinth with smooth rendered first floor having red brick quoins. Projecting smooth sandstone sill course to ground floor and red brick course to first floor. Ovolo brick mould with dentils to first floor string course. Painted timber boarding to second floor of projecting gable with smooth rendered inset. Niche to ground floor. Square-headed ground and second floor windows with smooth sandstone lintel. Segment-headed windows openings to first and second floor. Casement windows to dormer and second floor of projecting gable. Mono-pitch roof to ground floor bay with dentil brick eaves course. East elevation: Single bay elevation with projecting chimney breasts at ground floor rising to single red-brick stepped stack terminating in wide fluted chimney as before; decorative terracotta panel to round-arched niche. West elevation is attached to 82 Sandown Road (HB.26.14.002A). North extension: Rough-cast rendered walls on cement plinth course with brick ovolo moulding, brick quoins and string course to first floor. Square-headed openings with brick headers and concrete sills. Timber casement windows. Setting: The building is attached to 82 Sandown Road (HB.26.14.002A) and forms an apartment complex which is located within its own grounds with tarmac parking to south and west, pathways and lawn to north and east with boundary fence. Tree-lined and hedge boundary to south along private road to Sandown Park and west to Sandown Road. Square brick pillars to metal entrance gates. Materials: Roof: Slate RWG: Metal painted Walls Red brick and render Windows : Replacement double-glazed timber sliding sash and timber casements to the rear.

Architects

Historical Information

No. 82 Sandown Road and No. 9 Sandown Park, a pair of two-and-three-storey semi-detached houses located in the townland of Ballycloghan, were constructed in 1897. The pair were constructed on land owned by Sir. Robert E. Ward, a prominent local magistrate and landlord who resided at Bangor Castle, who also leased the adjoining No. 84 Sandown Road (Sandown House – HB26/14/004). The architect of the semi-detached houses is not known with certainty although the Tudoresque style of the buildings led the First Survey (1984) to suggest Vincent Craig as a likely candidate. Craig (1869-1925) was a local architect who was brother to James Craig (Northern Ireland’s first Prime Minister) and established his independent practice in the city in 1891. A progressive architect, Craig embraced the popular new styles that emerged in Europe at the turn of the 20th century and became the most prominent advocate of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements in Ulster (UTD; DIA). The Annual Revisions note that the semi-detached houses were known as Victoria Villas and that No. 9 Sandown Park (the eastern building which possesses a Tudor-revival gable roof) was valued at £53 upon its completion. The house was initially occupied by John Cahoon, a local jeweller. The layout of No. 82 Sandown Road and No. 9 Sandown Park was altered in c. 2001 when the current three-storey extension was added to the rear of the buildings but the Annual Revisions Town Plan (1895-1905) shows that each building originally possessed a rear return. The 1901 census described No. 9 Sandown Park as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of ten rooms. By 1918 the house was occupied by William Gilbert who was described in the Ulster Town Directories as a merchant and had vacated the site by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The valuer noted that ownership of the houses had passed to a Mrs. McFerran and that the value of No. 9 Sandown Park had been increased to £67. Between the 1930s and 1950s the house continued to be utilised as a private dwelling and was occupied by Samuel Berkley. By 1956 the house had been converted into a number of apartments that were occupied by different tenants and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the property had been further increased to £114. No. 82 Sandown Road and No. 9 Sandown Park were listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that both buildings had been converted into a nursing home by at least the 1990s (No. 82 Sandown Road had been converted in 1969). The nursing home had vacated the site in 1995 when the two buildings fell vacant. In c. 2001 the former dwellings were converted into a number of self-contained apartments. As part of the alteration work, modern three-storey extensions were added to the rear of both properties, replacing the original rear returns (NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1902) 2. PRONI OS/6/3/4/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1920-21) 3. PRONI OS/6/3/4/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1931) 4. PRONI OS/6/3/4/6 – Sixth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1938) 5. PRONI VAL/12/E/192/H/46B/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (1895-1905) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/17/2G – Annual Revisions (1891-1897) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/1-11 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930) 8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/29 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 10. Ulster Town Directories (1890-1943) 11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 12. PRONI Wills Catalogue (25 May 1926) 13. First Survey Record – HB26/14/002 (1984) 14. NIEA HB Records – HB26/14/002A-B Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects website - http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An impressive Tudor-Revival building built in 1897 and thought to have been designed by Vincent Craig who was known to have embraced the new Arts &Craft style emerging at the turn of the 20th century. Together with the adjoining 9 Sandown Park (HB26/14/002B), the building was originally known as Victoria Villas and was built on land owned by Sir Robert E Ward, a prominent local magistrate who lived at Bangor Castle. It has retained much of its character including the elaborate brickwork to chimneys, carved stonework above the entrance door and half-timbered gable above the canted bay. Despite the rear extension added c.2001, when it was converted into residential apartments, the scale and complexity of the original structure is still evident to the south and east elevations. The building is of historic and social interest due to its associations with a number of leading merchants, who, at the turn of the last century moved out to the Belfast suburbs.

General Comments

Date of Survey

25 July 2014