587 Antrim Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Semi-detached asymmetrical gabled three-bay two-storey with attic redbrick house, built c.1865 to the designs of Robert Young. Square on plan facing east and set back on the east side of Antrim Road accessed via shared bitmac avenue with elevated front lawn.

Pitched and hipped natural slate roofs with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles, lead valleys and triangular dormer windows. Three tall profiled polychromatic brick chimneystacks with tall octagonal clay pots. Moulded cast-iron guttering supported on painted angled brick eaves course (to the north section), supported on overhanging sheeted eaves with exposed rafter feet and purlins (to the south section) and cast-iron downpipes. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with original pointing, painted stone quoins and chamfered stone trim to projecting brick plinth course. Square-headed window openings with stop-chamfered reveals and lintels, painted stone sills and original single-pane timber sash windows with slender ogee horns.

Three-bay front elevation has a central entrance bay and a three-sided canted bay window to the left surmounted by gabled attic-storey oriel with polychromatic brick panels and replacement window to the attic. The right hand bay has paired windows to both floors. Basket-handle-headed door opening with stop-chamfered painted stone surround embellished with foliate carvings and surmounted by hood moulding with bird label stops. Original double-leaf timber panelled doors with bolection mouldings and brass furniture and plain glazed overlight. Door opens onto terrazzo platform and two steps enclosed by low plinth wall opening onto concrete paved footpath.

Two-bay south side elevation has a slightly advanced three-storey gable and single-storey bay window to the left. The gable has deep overhanging eaves with elaborate pierced timber bargeboard supported on decorative brackets, triple pointed-arched windows to the first floor and enlarged window opening to the attic. The remainder of this elevation has a paired window opening to the ground floor with flush polychromatic brick relieving arch, polychromatic brick panel above and slender window openings to the first floor with 6-pane timber casement window.

West elevation abutted by adjoining house No.585 (HB26/46/017B).

North elevation has randomly-placed window openings and abutted to the left by a tall chimneystack with polychromatic brick detailing. Flat-roofed extension abuts the right hand side with rear entrance opening onto raised platform.

Roof : Natural slate
RWG : Cast-iron
Walling: Red brick /painted stone
Windows: Timber sash

Setting:

Located on a private mature landscaped site, shared with adjoining house (HB26/46/017B) and a further late twentieth-century dwelling and accessed via long bitmac driveway on the east side of Antrim Road.

Historical information

Nos 585-587 Antrim Road, a pair of two-storey semi-detached red-brick dwellings also known as Fortwilliam Villas, were constructed in the townland of Skegoneill in c. 1865. The Victorian dwellings were constructed on land that was formerly part of the estate of Fortwilliam House which was broken up in the mid-19th century. Larmour states that a large number of mansions and villas were erected on the former estate in the 1860s and 1870s, although only a few now survive (Larmour). Fortwilliam Villas were designed by Robert Young (1822-1917), a local architect and civil engineer who had established his independent practice in the city in 1852 before entering into partnership with his former pupil John Mackenzie in c. 1867 to form Young & Mackenzie, which became the most successful architectural practice in Belfast by the end of the 19th century. Nos 585-587 Antrim Road were designed by Robert Young shortly before he entered into partnership with Mackenzie. The buildings were first recorded in the Annual Revisions book of 1862-66 which did not note the exact date of construction. The buildings were first noted in the Belfast Street Directories of 1865 suggesting a construction date of c. 1865 (DIA).

No. 585-87 Antrim Road were initially valued at £66 each and were leased to tenants by Robert Young. The first occupant of No. 585 was a Ms. Catherine McKay who resided at the property until c. 1910 when house passed to Garrett Nagle, resident magistrate at Belfast’s courts. The buildings were first recorded on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1901-02) and the contemporary 1901 census of Ireland described nos 585-587 Antrim Road as a pair of 1st class dwellings which consisted of 13 rooms each. Nagle continued to reside at No. 585 Antrim Road until the 1920s when Henry H. Graham, a local magistrate and partner in the property and insurance agency Graham & Carson, took possession of the house. Graham continued to reside at the address until the Second World War when the building was converted into offices for the National Fire Service Report Centre in 1944. The value of the house was increased to £85 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which also noted that Mary Hunter (occupant of the adjoining house) purchased nos 585-587 Antrim Road outright in 1946. No. 587 Antrim Road was returned to domestic use following the war and was occupied by a Mr. Herbert E. A. Addy between 1948 and 1968. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the house was occupied by a Dr. J. C. Crossin and had been slightly decreased in value to £80.
Nos 585-587 Antrim Road were included in the Somerton Road Conservation Area which was designated in 2000 as ‘the Somerton area exhibits a very high standard of townscape character with many period Victorian and Edwardian properties contributing to the special quality of this suburban setting’ (DOE). During the Second Survey No. 585 Antrim Road continued to be utilised as a private dwelling.

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/5/8A-8F – Annual Revisions (1862-1897)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/H/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/10- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-72)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/13 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1877-1943)
9. PRONI Wills Catalogue (
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. First Survey record – HB26/46/017 (1985)

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/
2. DOE Conservation Areas –
http://www.planningni.gov.uk/index/policy/supplementary_guidance/conservation/conservation_map/conservation_somerton_chichester.htm

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Semi-detached asymmetrical gabled three-bay two-storey with attic redbrick house, built c.1865 to the designs of Robert Young. An impressive, well-proportioned house demonstrating a variety of external detailing, including polychromatic brick, elaborate pierced timber bargeboards and foliate carvings, typifying the eclectic style of the High Victorian period. Retaining most of its original external fabric and set in a mature landscaped site, this house and its neighbour (HB26/46/017B) are noteworthy examples of their type and highlight the wealth and aspirations of suburban Belfast during the mid to late nineteenth-century.