98 Malone Road ('The Nook')

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Unusual two storey ‘mews’ dwelling, sandwiched between the rear of two large houses, which assumed its present external form in 1912 when outbuildings belonging to the two flanking houses (nos.96 and 100) were raised a storey and converted to domestic use. The building has an somewhat Edwardian Domestic Revival front elevation with gables, canted bays, mullioned and transomed windows and rough cast finish, but the remainder is plain. The property was divided into two flats, one to each floor, in 1968, with another first floor flat created in the 1970s to the south-west end. To the south there are another two flats which, though structurally speaking part of this building originally formed an outbuilding belonging to a (now demolished) neighbouring property (no.102).

The building –which was originally aptly named ‘The Nook’- is situated to the E side of Malone Road, crammed between nos.96 and 100 and accessed from a shared driveway to the north side.

The asymmetric front elevation faces N. Roughly to the centre of the ground floor is a (probably original) panelled and glazed door set into a shallow recess. This door leads to the ground floor flat. To the immediate left of the doorway is a window with mullioned and transomed frame with casement opening and panes to upper lights (in typical Edwardian manner- all front windows are similar). To the left of this is a single storey canted bay- completely glazed in mullioned and transomed fashion as before. The bay has a slated hipped roof. To the left again is a door leading into a narrow passage- from where one gains access to the upper floor flat (see below).

To the right of the ground floor flat doorway is another single storey bay- as before. To right of this the façade merges with a high wall containing a large carriage entrance leading to the yard at the rear of no.96, and from where the flat to the south-west end is accessed (see below).

To the far left the front elevation is fully two storey (and topped with a hipped roof). This section contains a relatively large mullioned and transomed window. To the centre and right the façade would be more accurately described as 1½ storey, as here it merely consists of two large gabled half-dormers, each with a window much as before. The front façade is finished in painted rough cast. To the centre a large section is covered in ivy growth.

The doorway to the left hand side of the front elevation leads into a passage which leads though to a small yard. To the E side the yard is bounded by the W wall of the rear return of no.100, with the N wall of a summer house belonging to no.100 to the S. To the N and W it is bounded by no.98 itself. To the N side of the yard there is a recessed area, within which, to the W side (on the E facing wall), there is a doorway leading directly to a staircase leading to the upper floor flat. To the right of this doorway there is a high level squat window with modern frame. Over the recess is a balcony, overlooked by a modern window, to the N (on the S facing wall), and a glazed doorway and small window (with modern frame), to the W (on the E facing wall).

To the W side of the yard itself (on the E facing wall) there is a large window with modern frame to the ground floor, with modern glazed door to its right. To the first floor there are two large windows, with a much smaller narrower window to far right. All have modern frames. The walls enclosing the yard are finished in plain render and the yard itself is paved (with a large tree growing from the centre). The balcony has decorative iron railings.

The W elevation faces into the rear yard of no.96 and is in painted brick. The left half of the elevation is blank. To the left is a large flat arch garage entrance (belonging to no.96) with early 20th century looking timber door with glazing to upper third. To the left of this a doorway which leads to the flat (which appears to be mainly located on the upper floor (the right-hand half dormer to the front appears to belong to it) . To the upper floor itself there are two windows with modern frames. Between these is a doorway opening -with a partly glazed door- which now appears to serve as a window.

To the S side the building merges with what was once an outbuilding belonging to a now demolished house (the former no.102). This outbuilding has also been converted to flats in recent years.

The roof of the building is a mixture of hipped and gabled with all sections slated. To the W side (and belonging to the SW flat) there are three Velux windows, with some to the E side also [?belonging to the same flat]. There appear to be two rendered chimneystacks to the N side. The rw goods appear to be mainly cast iron.

Historical information

In its present from this property dates largely from 1912 when the outbuilding complex situated between the present no.96 and no.100 was enlarged and converted to a dwelling house. The outbuildings themselves dated from 1875-76, when the property to the west side (no.96) was built and were split between that house, the present no.100, and another house to the south (the former no.102). Valuation records dating from the 1890s suggest that the section of the outbuildings belonging to the house west (no.96) contained a dwelling of some sort at that stage

The post 1912 house, known appropriately as ‘The Nook’ remained in its original form until 1968 when it was split into two flats, one to each floor. In the 1970s another flat was created to the south west end. The portion of the outbuildings to the south, which belonged to no.102 are now also converted to flats; this appears to have taken place in the 1990s when no.102 itself was demolished.

The Nook’s earliest resident appears to have been a William Redmond*, a policeman who was posted to Dublin in 1919 and subsequently killed in the War of Independence.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/12B/5/6b Annual (valuation) revision book, 1866-79
2 PRONI VAL/12B/5/6c Annual (valuation) revision book, 1879-85
3 PRONI VAL/12B/5/6d Annual (valuation) revision book, 1885-93
4 PRONI VAL/12B/5/63 Annual (valuation) revision book, 1894-97
5 PRONI VAL/12E/192c/57/3 Valuation town plan of Belfast, sh 57, 1894-95
6 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster directory’ (Belfast 1912- )

Secondary sources
1 Paul Larmour, ‘The architectural heritage of Malone and Stranmillis’ (Belfast 1994), p.
2 Information supplied by Professor Alun Evans

[*Redmond was featured in the 1997 film ‘Michael Collins’, in which he was played by actor Ian McIlhinney. Some historic license was taken with his fate in the film, as he is killed in a bomb blast, rather than shot.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Unusual two storey ‘mews’ dwelling, sandwiched between the rear of two large houses, which assumed its present external form in 1912 when outbuildings belonging to the two flanking houses (nos.96 and 100) were raised a storey and converted to domestic use. The building has an Edwardian Domestic Revival front elevation with gables, canted bays, mullioned and transomed windows and rough cast finish, but the remainder is plain. The property was divided into two flats, one to each floor, in 1968, with another first floor flat created in the 1970s to the south-west end. To the south there are another two flats which, though structurally speaking part of this building originally formed an outbuilding belonging to a (now demolished) neighbouring property (no.102).