BEETHOVEN HOUSE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terraced three-storey three-bay former townhouse with painted stone (?) walling and a slated roof with cat-slide rear extension and a two-storey lean-to rear return. Although Victorian and built c.1850, it is Georgian in style. Rectangular on plan with projecting stone cornice at eaves, toothed quoins and moulded architrave surrounds to first and second floor window bays, all painted white in contrast with main walls. Principal elevation faces east onto Shipquay Street within the City Walls with Shipquay Gate directly to the north. Situated within the northern quadrant of the Historic City Conservation Area.

ROOF
Pitched slate to main roof, cat-slide and lean-to extension; black clay ridge tiles to main roof; large rendered chimney stack with stone cornice and two octagon-shaped buff clay pots rising from the north elevation, centred on ridge. Cast-iron rainwater goods to rear.

EAST ELEVATION
Principal (E) elevation is painted ashlar stone (?) with stone dressings to upper floors and stepped quoins either end of elevation; modern finishes to shop front on ground floor level with large glazed openings, glazed entrance door and modern signage to fascia above; three square-headed window bays on upper floors, first floor bays have moulded stone surrounds, with decorative scrolled console brackets supporting projecting cornice above; recessed panels below sill level on each bay; second floor windows have moulded architrave surrounds on painted masonry sills; all windows on upper floors are 6/6 timber sliding sashes.

NORTH & SOUTH ELEVATIONS
North and south sides are adjoined by neighbouring properties No's 28 & 32 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/032); north elevation rises above No.32 and is blank, smooth rendered unpainted finish, topped by a large rendered chimney stack (described above).

WEST ELEVATION
West elevation to the rear is of three-storeys with cat-slide roof, stepping down to a two-storey mono-pitched return to left side and single storey flat roofed addition, which forms a raised terrace to right side. Terrace overlooks shared courtyard to the rear, accessed via door within monpitched return at first floor level. Smooth-rendered painted finish to rear elevation with a single 8/8 timber sliding sash window; rough-cast rendered walling to lean-to and flat roofed extension,with uPVC casement windows. Door opening out onto rear shared courtyard from shop on ground floor level.

MATERIALS
Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Painted ashlar stone (?)
Windows Timber Sliding Sash

SETTING
Located within the Historic City Walls on the west side of Shipquay Street which rises in a steep slope from Shipquay Gate at the north to The Diamond at the south end. No.30 is accessed from street level within a terrace row of late-Georgian and Victorian former merchants’ townhouses and commercial buildings within the northern quadrant of the Historic City Conservation Area. Rear courtyard is accessed via archway at No. 28 Shipquay St, giving access to the Craft Village.

Historical information

No. 30 Shipquay Street, a three-storey three-bay building, was constructed by the mid-19th century but in contrast to the neighbouring buildings, the structure is distinctly Georgian in appearance. Griffith’s Valuation noted that No. 30, as well as the adjoining No. 28 (HB01/19/032), were constructed by at least 1856. Both buildings were valued as a single property in Griffith’s Valuation (1858) which described the structure as a house, stores, office and yard that was valued at £160 and was leased by John Cunningham to Robert Bond, a ‘wholesale grocer, oil and colour merchant’ (Ulster Town Directories). Robert Bond continued to operate his business from nos 28-30 Shipquay Street until 1868-69 when Stevenson, Ramsay & Co., local tobacco and snuff manufacturers, took possession of the building (UTD). Nos 28-30 Shipquay Street continued to be utilised as a single business premises until 1883 when Robert J. Black purchased both buildings outright and leased out No. 30 Shipquay Street out to a Mr. John J. Johnston (see HB01/19/032 for full history of No. 28).

The Annual Revisions note that No. 30 Shipquay Street was valued at £40 in 1885 and was occupied by John J. Johnston, a local dentist, who utilised the building as his private dwelling; Johnston’s dentist surgery was located on Ferryquay Street (Ulster Town Directories). Johnston continued to occupy No. 30 Shipquay Street until c. 1899 when it was converted into commercial premises. A c. 1890 photograph of the building shows that prior to 20th century the ground floor of No. 30 Shipquay Street possessed a Georgian-style doorway (with side columns and fanlight) that was accessed from the street by a set of steps flanked by railings (Foyle Civic Trust). The ground floor of the building was altered in c. 1899 when the building was acquired by Henry B. Phillips, converted into a music warehouse and piano forte showroom and increased in value to £79.

The Dictionary of Ulster Biography states that Phillips (1866-1950) was born in Co. Kildare but by the 1870s his family had moved to Derry where Phillips attended school and became a soloist in the choir at St. Columb’s Cathedral. In 1890 Phillips set up his first shop in Marlborough Street before moving to Shipquay Street in c. 1899. Phillips renamed No. 30 Shipquay Street ‘Beethoven House’ and opened a second showroom in Bedford Street Belfast in 1907 (also called Beethoven House). Between 1896 and 1903 Phillips was in charge of Derry Opera House (the first opera house in Ulster which was opened in 1877 and was located on Carlisle Road) and was responsible for organising concerts featuring the greatest composers and musicians of the period. Phillips moved to England in 1912 but Beethoven House continued to operate in his absence and for several decades after his death. An illustration of the Edwardian shopfront of Beethoven House (c. 1900) shows that the shop advertised pianos, organs and harmoniums and also acted as a box office for the Royal Opera House (Dictionary of Ulster Biography; McAlister Hart; Foyle Civic Trust).

Phillips occupied the ground floor of No. 30 Shipquay Street and part of the upper floors. The Annual Revisions note that the remainder of the building was utilised as office space for R. J. Aiken, a local solicitor and public notary, and for the architectural firm of Alfred Forman. Originally an Australian architect, Alfred Arthur Forman travelled the world between 1894 and 1906, staying in Ulster between 1897 and c. 1905-06. During his brief stay in the province, Forman spent approximately five years in Londonderry where he designed some of the city’s greatest Edwardian buildings such as the Northern Counties Hotel (1898), No. 2 Butcher Street (1899), Carlisle Road Methodist Church (1901-1903) and the Northern Counties Club (1902). In 1905 Forman operated from offices on the 2nd floor of Beethoven House. In 1905-06 Forman left Londonderry for Canada and from there returned home to Australia (DIA). Phillips’ piano showroom continued to operate from Beethoven House until at least 1972. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the building stood at £147 and 10 shillings, but by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value had been further raised to £220.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Derry described No. 30 Shipquay Street as ‘a narrow façade of Georgian character. The windows on the upper floor have entablatures and are in contrast with those of its neighbours. Originally the ground floor consisted of a pleasant doorway with flanking columns and well-formed semi-circular fanlight’ (UAHS guide, p. 23). No. 30 Shipquay Street included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the building was converted from commercial premises into a fast food restaurant in 1989 (the change of use included the construction of its current rear return). In 2002 the restaurant was converted into a shop on its ground floor whilst the upper floors were converted into offices. During the Second Survey the building continued to be utilised for these purposes.

On 12th February 2008 an Ulster History Circle blue plaque was installed outside Beethoven House to commemorate Henry B. Phillips. The plaque reads: ‘H.B. / PHILLIPS / 1866-1950 / Impresario / had his music shop / Beethoven House / here’ (Ulster History Circle). During the Second Survey No. 30 Shipquay Street was occupied by a children’s charity.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
2. PRONI VAL/12/B/157/1/11-15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/5-16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1898)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2D-E – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
9. First Survey Record – HB01/19/033 (1970)
10. First Survey Image – HB01/19/033 (No Date)
11. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/032
12. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Shipquay Street)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. McAlister Hart, N., ‘From Farquhar to Field Day: Three centuries of music and theatre in Derry – Londonderry’ Gloucherstershire: The History Press, 2012.
4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
5. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Ulster Biography - http://www.ulsterbiography.co.uk/
2. Dictionary of Irish Architects – http://www.dia.ie
3. Ulster History Circle website - http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/phillips.htm

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Mid-terraced three-storey three-bay former townhouse, painted masonry with toothed quoins and projecting cornice hoods and console brackets to first floor windows; decorative moulded architraves to second floor; and slated duo-pitched roof. Located within the Historic City Conservation Area and built c.1850 in conjunction with the adjoining No. 28 (HB01/19/032), with which it shares group value, the pair are set within a terrace row of former merchants' townhouses and commercial buildings lining the west side of Shipquay Street. Although Victorian, it is Georgian in style and despite loss of the original plan form and much historic detailing in the ground floor shop, No.30 is well proportioned and retains its ornate detailing to the front facade. Converted to a music warehouse in c.1899 and named ‘Beethoven House’ by Henry B. Philips, renouned for his pivotal role in the Derry Opera House, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland; the shop doubled up as its box office and is therefore important from a social perspective. It also has historical association with prominent architect Alfred Foreman, who ran his offices from the premises in 1905 and was responsible for several of the Edwardian buildings of note within the city.

General comments

The front elevation faces south-east, for ease of description this is referred to as east and the naming of all other façades follows this convention.