22 Victoria Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9BG

A two-storey-with-attic semi-detached Victorian house with neoclassical detailing, built circa 1850. The building is L-shaped in plan with a two-storey flat-roof extension to the west and small single-storey extensions to the east and south. A canted bay projects to the north. The pitched roof is covered with natural slate and finished with cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on deep overhanging eaves with timber soffits and paired corbel brackets.

The exterior walls are painted roughcast render with smooth render raised plat-band detailing. Windows are 2/2 timber-framed sliding sash with margin panes; those to the first floor are set in moulded surrounds with lugs and pediments (a rounded pediment caps the window above the canted bay). The canted bay features dividing Doric pilasters surmounted by moulded architrave, plain entablature and cornice.

The principal elevation faces northwest. To the left is a slightly projecting gabled bay containing a canted bay to ground floor, a single opening to first floor, and a segmental-headed multi-paned window to the attic. To the right is an entrance bay with a single window above the entrance door. The entrance is accessed by two slate steps and comprises a glazed timber door with two raised-and-fielded panels, framed by sidelights with pilasters featuring ornate console brackets and Doric capitals. Above is a segmental-headed transom light with paired vertical glazing bars (replacement glass throughout). The entrance frame consists of panelled pilasters with large ornate console brackets and is surmounted by a corniced canopy.

The northeast elevation has two openings to the first floor (the right being a blind window) and a single window to the right of the ground floor, abutted by a small modern single-storey extension to the left. The southeast (rear) elevation features a segmental-headed stairwell window to the left; a gable with a segmental-headed attic window and single first-floor opening; and at ground floor a single-storey extension with partially glazed roof enclosing the original yard, abutted to the east by a two-storey flat-roof extension. The exposed section of this rear elevation has 6/6 sliding sash windows to the first floor. The southwest elevation is abutted by the adjoining semi-detached building.

The house is set back from Victoria Road and accessed via Victoria Lane to the northwest. A sunken parking bay with modern garage sits to the north; the house is reached by eight masonry steps with parapet wall and modern cast-iron railing. A lawned garden to the east is enclosed by mature trees and timber fence. The garden once extended northward but now contains a private two-storey dwelling, also accessed via Victoria Lane.

Historical Context

Following the opening of the railway in 1848, Holywood became increasingly attractive to prosperous merchants, professionals and developers, who began constructing homes set in spacious grounds in the immediate surroundings of the town. In the early 1850s, William Bankhead Esq built three structures on this High Holywood plot. The architect Thomas Turner was engaged to design the buildings, which were initially intended to comprise a mansion, outbuildings and porter's lodge. Correspondence of 1854 between Turner and Bankhead survives, and documents of 1852 held by PRONI demonstrate that Turner supplied designs for alterations to Hillbrook, including the addition of outbuildings. All three structures on the site were initially known as "Hillbrook"; two later became known as "Glenburn" and "Donnybrook", with the remaining structure retaining the name "Hillbrook". The three buildings first appear on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, captioned "Hillbrook".

According to historical records, Hillbrook was used as a school in the 1850s and 60s by John Turpin, though given the subsequent changes of name, it remains uncertain which house served this purpose. Auld suggests the school may have been in the neighbouring house, now called "Glenburn". Auld states that the current house was the mansion designed by Turner and that it was later divided into two semi-detached dwellings.

According to Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), the occupier was Margaret Dawson, who leased the house, offices, yard and small garden from William Bankhead. It was valued at £42. By 1867, Robert Armour, an insurance agent with offices in Ulster Chambers, Belfast, had taken over; he died in 1875. The valuation was reduced to £37 in 1885 as part of a general devaluation of property in the area. Subsequent tenants included Jane Harrol in 1887 and Mary Craig in 1905, who appears in the 1911 census as a widow living on the interest of money with her two daughters and a single domestic servant. The Craig family remained in residence until at least 1930, with Helen Craig, daughter of Mary, becoming the immediate lessor in 1924. According to Auld, until his death in 1955, Hillbrook was the home of Claud Henfrey, an ice-cream manufacturer who introduced choc-ices to Ireland and was also a collector of early Holywood photographs, though it remains uncertain which of the two semi-detached houses was his home.