22 Shore Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9HX

A three-storey two-bay Georgian terrace townhouse built around 1830, located west of Shore Road in the centre of Holywood. It forms one of a terrace of four houses and is set back from the road with a small front garden enclosed by a painted masonry wall with saddleback coping stones and a gate pier with pointed cap and cast-iron latch gate.

The house is rectangular on plan with a two-storey return to the rear and a double-height extension to the north. The roof is pitched natural slate with a rendered chimneystack and terracotta pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods run along the main elevation, with plastic rainwater goods to the rear return.

The principal elevation faces east and is two openings wide. The walling is painted smooth render with shallow rustication to the ground floor. The ground floor windows are 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash with painted masonry projecting sills and moulded surround. The first floor also has 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash windows with painted masonry projecting sills and moulded surrounds. The second floor windows are smaller 3/3 timber-framed replacements, a later alteration. Windows to the rear return are uPVC replacements. The entrance door to the left comprises a bolection-moulded four-panelled door with brass door furniture, surmounted by a fanlight.

The south elevation is abutted by the adjoining building. The west (rear) elevation has two window openings to the first and second floors and is abutted by a two-storey return with a double-height extension to the north. The return has two window openings to the first floor and a single opening with a coalhouse at ground floor level. The extension features uPVC double doors and a catslide roof. The north elevation is abutted by the adjoining building. The rear garden is enclosed to the north and south by masonry walls and hedging; to the west there is a painted masonry wall with a simple timber gate.

Architectural detailing to the main elevation is largely intact, although the second floor windows are replacements. Other detailing, including some internal features, has survived. The interior has been compromised by a change of use from dwelling to offices, although the floor plan remains largely intact.

The terrace dates from around 1830 and appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834. Shore Road, previously known as Shore Street, was one of the original Holywood thoroughfares, dating from the early seventeenth century and originally consisting largely of thatched cabins. Redevelopment began at the beginning of the nineteenth century as Holywood attracted an expanding population wishing to leave Belfast. Professional and mercantile classes made their homes here, with the street becoming a genteel residential area with commerce largely confined to the upper part near the maypole.

The terrace is listed in the Townland Valuation of 1834 as four houses and offices, all valued at £10 and owned by Dr Brison, probably Samuel Bryson (1776–1853), an apothecary of High Street, Belfast who lived in Ballymacarrett. Bryson was the son of a Presbyterian minister and was a collector and translator of manuscripts in the Irish language. He published Remains of the Irish Bards in 1805 and is remembered as a talented scribe and scholar of Irish who promoted the study of Irish language and literature. His manuscript collection is now housed in the Belfast Public Library. He was born and is buried in Holywood.

Griffith's Valuation (1828–40) lists four houses of almost identical dimensions. Number 22 was occupied by Eliza Barber and leased from Olivia Bryson. It is described as a house, yard and small garden with buildings valued at £15 10s, later raised to £16, with rent of £20. Samuel Bryson, a linen merchant of Woodbank, becomes the lessor in 1884, and the valuation is lowered to £14. A succession of tenants followed: Hugh McCool, Margaret Anderson (1887), Sarah Togate (1892), Annie Deevers (1900), Lillian Monro (1902), Annie Gaussen (1903), Mary F Barr (1911), Albert J Higginson (1915) and Anthony M Brown (1930). Mary Bryson becomes immediate lessor in 1924. The house is now in use as offices.

As part of an early terrace, Number 22 has group value and illustrates the development of Holywood during the early nineteenth century as it grew in popularity as a resort and commuter town.