17 Notting Hill

The Department's description

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Designed by the architect Jomes Mc Nea in 1861, this handsome Italianate villa is a very complete and well preserved dwelling of a type that was prevalent in the mid-19th century in the Malone area. Designed to take advantage of the elevated site, the dwelling is a surviving example of a development of six dwelling houses, all constructed by William Magill Collins and located in an area demarcated on the 2nd edition OS map as ‘Pleasure-House Hill now Notting Hill. Its style and composition encapsulate the self-assurance of the burgeoning prosperous middle classes, whose development of their domestic dwellings within the neighbourhood of south Belfast reflected the rapid industrial growth of the wider city of Belfast. The wealth and detail of historic fabric within and without the house is testimony to these aspirations.

This substantial detached dwelling house designed by a noted local architect for the professional / mercantile classes has undergone relatively few changes, notably retaining the original range of outbuildings to the rear and much of its internal detailing. Although a portion of the gardens has been lost, the house retains a mature setting appropriate to its size. The villa residence’s well-preserved external detailing is characteristic of its early Victorian date, the lugged upper windows, in particular, connecting it stylistically with its neighbours and with the architect, James McNea. The house is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a medium-sized nineteenth century Italianate villa, built as the wealth and confidence of the middle classes in Belfast was reaching its peak.