Five houses in the Malone area of south Belfast are set for listed status, after city hall lent its support to the proposals.
At a meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, elected representatives supported the listing of houses on Upper Malone Road, Notting Hill and Malone Hill Park.
While the Department for Communities is responsible for giving the status for lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest, all prospective lists are put through the council for noting before going to consultation.
178 and 180 Upper Malone Rd are two-storey plus attic ‘arts and crafts’ style houses of the early 20th Century by Blackwood and Jury Architects, located off a long private road to the east of Upper Malone Road in south Belfast.
The house was divided into two separate dwellings between 1963 and 1988, with 178 to the southwest and 180 to the northeast.
The villa is set in expansive grounds with the main southeast elevation taking full advantage of sweeping views across the formal gardens and beyond to the Lagan Valley.
180 was altered with the removal of the original motor house and chauffeur’s quarters which was replaced by a two-storey extension in the late 20th Century. The proposed NIEA listing for these houses is B2.
17 Notting Hill is a handsome Italianate villa, and a very complete and well preserved dwelling of a type that was prevalent in the mid-19th century in the Malone area. It was designed by the architect James McNea in 1861.
The house 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 second edition OS map as “Pleasure-House Hill” – now Notting Hill.
The council report on the house states: “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 proposed NIEA listing for this house is B1.
2 Malone Hill Park is an asymmetric storey-and-a-half Arts and Crafts style, brown brick detached villa with steeply sloping rosemary tiled roof, constructed in 1932, located on a large corner site with mature landscaping on Malone Hill Park at the junction with Malone Road in South Belfast.
The report states: “The original owner had a Dutch connection which may possibly account for the ‘low countries’ character particularly to the end gable of the house with its multiple windows.” The proposed NIEA listing for this house is B2.
6 Malone Hill Park is a two-storey, Arts and Crafts style, painted roughcast, detached villa with hipped Westmoreland slate roof, built 1927-28, to designs by the architect Thomas William Henry as his own residence. The proposed NIEA listing for this house is B1.
