Oxford House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Slightly Arts and Crafts influenced, free style, two storey late Victorian suburban villa of 1889, with single storey bays, veranda, and two storey octagonal bay. The façade is in red brick with Rosemary clay tile roof and cladding to first floor. The building is set to the S of the Purdysburn Road. The property has extensive grounds but to the N side much of these grounds have disappeared in recent times with the redirecting of the Purdysburn and Beechill Roads.

The front door is centrally located within the N façade and is set in a semicircular opening dressed with brick mouldings and keystone with a small bas relief, stylised pediment. Above is a bracketed hipped porch roof which spans the chamfered bay to the right and the front door. The windows generally are sash with a smaller upper frame without astragals and a taller lower pane with one central vertical astragal. Windows have a segmental arch head with brick dressings framing the openings. To the first floor are three sash windows as before (but smaller) with two grouped to the right and one to the far left. To the right is a chamfer with lower ground and half landing windows as before.

To the right is a two storey octagonal bay with ground and first floor windows (as before) to the N & NW faces. The lower half of the S face has a panelled and glazed door with moulded brick dressings while the upper level has a window as before. The SW face is blank.

The W façade has an open timber veranda with a hipped roof and abuts the octagonal bay. Below the veranda roof, and to the left, is a door as per that to the base of the octagonal bay. To the right is a window as before. To the first floor are two widely spaced windows as before.

The S façade has a two storey bay to the left with a two storey bay set at 45 deg. to the right. The bay to the left has a further central projecting single storey bay. The single storey bay has a window to each face. To the first floor are two ‘paired’ windows. To the right of the first bay is one window to ground and one window to first as before. To the right (in the base of the bay at 45 deg.) is a plain door with brick dressings as before. To the SE face of this bay are two paired windows to ground and first floors.

The E façade has a chamfered bay to the left (with a window to each face) and a single window to the right. Also to the right, and partly obscuring the ground floor, is a yard wall and single storey return. A large inappropriate steel fire escape stair of c.1960s-70s provides escape from first floor on the N side of this bay.

External walls have a chamfered base and a moulded string course. Above the string walls are finished with vertical hung ‘fish tail’ Rosemary tiles.

The roof is finished in Rosemary clay tiles with decorative ‘fish tail’ tile bands. The roof is complex with many hip and half hip features. Ridges are finished with decorative ridge tiles and finials.

Modern brick wall and gateway to N of house.

Historical information

This building was constructed in 1889-90 as the 'Queen Victoria Convalescent Home' for sick children. The home closed in 1909 (apparently due to money problems) and either in that year or shortly afterwards, the property was acquired by the nearby Belfast Mental Hospital at Purdysburn and used as a matron's residence. It may also have served as a residence for one of the hospital doctors, as the current owner has been informed that it was home to a Dr Caldwell for a period. The hospital sold the property in c.1963, after which it became a private residence.

The origin of the name 'Oxford House' is something of a mystery. It may have stemmed from the Purdysburn hospital's practice of naming buildings after towns and islands etc (such as Clady, Rathlin etc). The earliest reference to the name the writers have been able to find has been the 1925 6in OS map where it is simply marked 'Oxford'.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Slightly Arts and Crafts influenced, two storey, free style, late Victorian convalescent home of 1889-90, whose various single and two storey bays and veranda give the appearance of a suburban villa rather than an institutional building . The façade is in red brick with Rosemary clay tile roof and cladding to the first floor.