Tieve Tara

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached two-bay two-storey with attic red brick and rendered gabled Arts and Crafts villa on irregular plan with single-storey entrance porch to north and veranda to south-east, built in 1907. Single-storey gabled extension to west built c. 2000. Two-storey shallow bows to each bay to east gable, single-storey canted bay to north, projecting two-storey gables to north, west and south. Located to the east of Somerton Road and adjacent to St. Patricks Secondary School to south and set within its own mature grounds.

Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles and finials to east gables, overhanging eaves with exposed scrolled rafter-ends, painted soffit, dentiled timber painted bargeboards, ogee moulded cast-iron guttering discharging to circular downpipes, decorative hoppers and rose brackets throughout. Three fluted brick chimney stacks with brick decorative cornice to flat stone coping and round terracotta pots. Square-headed windows with painted stone sills, timber casement windows with leaded upper panes, unless otherwise stated.

East Elevation:
Red brick walling with raised brick plinth, projecting moulded string course on brick dentils. Roughcast rendered bow bays having curved mono-pitch leaded roof on moulded brick eaves course with dentils. Attic-level of north-east gable has decorative timber boarding with roughcast render inset on shallow modillions. Single-bay arcaded veranda to south side having painted timber posts with vertical timber boarding over. Entrance porch to north with flat roof having raised stepped parapet having chamfered and ovolo rendered coping. Square-headed entrance door opening with chamfered rendered surround having flanking pilasters supporting projecting moulded cornice. Mosaic tiled entrance step; original timber panelled door with eight pane glazed opening having two bullseye glass panes.

North Elevation:
Hipped slate roof to canted bay on moulded brick eaves course with dentils. Projecting central gable to first and second floors with dressed sandstone surround and transoms to first floor window having coloured leaded glass inset and opening casement to bottom pane. Flat-headed dormer to attic level.

West Elevation:
Projecting gable to south-west return with raised chimney breast leading to fluted stack. Red brick gabled extension to rear having pitched slate roof and terracotta ridge tiles.

South Elevation:
Projecting elevation to south has stepped corners to ground and first floor with vertical hung clay tiles to attic level of gable. Overhanging eaves supported on timber painted brackets to corners.
Raised chimney breast terminating in fluted stack with gablet on exposed rafter ends. Three-bay flat roofed arcaded veranda to east having painted timber posts with timber vertical boarding over. Painted brick recess.

Setting:
Located within its own grounds having mature hedge boundary planting to north, south and east, red-brick buttressed boundary wall to west having square-headed opening with timber sheeted entrance door. Bitmac tree-lined driveway from east leading to parking to rear. Extensive lawns with mature trees to east and west. Set adjacent to St. Patricks Secondary School, north Belfast.

Materials:
Roof: Slate
RWG: Cast-iron
Walls: Red brick / roughcast render
Windows: Timber casement with leaded upper panes, and some metal framed casements.

Historical information

Tieve Tara, a two-storey red-brick Arts & Crafts-style house located on the Somerton Road to the north side of St. Patrick’s Secondary School, was constructed in 1907. The Edwardian dwelling was constructed on the Somerton Road which was established following the breakup of the Fortwilliam Estate in the mid-19th century. Larmour states that many grand mansions were erected on the former estate in the 1860s and 1870s, although only a few now survive. The Annual Revisions note that Tieve Tara (or No. 96 Somerton Road) was constructed on land that was owned by George S. Clarke and James and John McFerran.

The original plans for the building are held at Belfast City Hall and record that Tieve Tara was designed by Watt (Graeme) & Tulloch, a Belfast-based architectural partnership which had been formed in 1895 and predominantly carried out commercial contracts in the city. The firm carried out only a small number of domestic contracts. In c. 1900 the partnership designed a two-storey Arts & Crafts lodge at Home Farm Lodge in Carnalea and in 1902 designed Cultra House in North Down (DIA).

On the completion of the dwelling, the total rateable value of Tieve Tara was set at £125 in the Annual Revisions. The first occupant of the house was Robert McCurdy, manager of Robert McCurdy & Co., linen collar and cuff manufacturers which held business premises on Library Street (UTD). The 1911 census building return described No. 96 Somerton Road as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 20 rooms and possessed two sheds as its sole out offices. Robert McCurdy had vacated Tieve Tara by the 1930s when Isaac Black, a local furniture dealer, was recorded as occupant. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the house was slightly decreased to £122. By the 1950s the house was occupied by a Mr. J. W. Martin and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of Tieve Tara had been decreased to £120.

The First Survey records that Tieve Tara had been acquired by the adjoining St. Patrick’s Secondary School by at least 1985. Larmour states that the school was constructed in 1952-55 to designs by McLean & Forte and also incorporated Barnageeha house as well as No. 96 Somerton Road (Larmour, p. 96). Tieve Tara was listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that the house was utilised by the school as an administration block but in 1996 it was acquired by the Diocese of Down & Connor and converted back to residential use (for a number of priests employed as teachers at St. Patrick’s Secondary School). The conversion of the building was completed in 1997 and included the restoration of the original roof and windows, reorganisation of the floorplan and construction of the single-storey extension to the west side of the building (NIEA HB Records).

Resources

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/H/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/11- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-72)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/16 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Ulster Town Directories (1901-1943)
8. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
9. First Survey record – HB26/46/010 (1985)
10. NIEA HB Records – HB26/46/010

Secondary Sources
1. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Tieve Tara is a well proportioned and beautifully detailed red brick Arts and Crafts-style house on a complex plan incorporating numerous gables and projecting bays as well as a veranda. Designed by Watt (Graeme) & Tulloch, in 1906, the building is one of a number of ‘gentleman’s residences’ built during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century when many merchants migrated to the suburbs following the industrial expansion of Belfast. Constructed of brick, the building has been finely detailed including dentiled eaves and string course, rendered bow-bays, scroll-end exposed rafters and timber casement leaded windows. Internally there are numerous Arts and Crafts details which have been carefully integrated; this attention to detail adds considerable interest to the architectural quality of the building. Although there has been some internal modification to the layout, the original plan form is intact. Set within its own grounds this well-crafted house is surrounded by mature planting and trees; these screen the house from the Somerton Road but it can be seen in glimpses and it adds character to the area.