61 Victoria Road, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9BD

A two-storey-with-attic, two-bay semi-detached Victorian house built circa 1860, located on the south side of Victoria Road in Holywood. The building is rectangular on plan with a two-storey return to the northwest and a modern single-storey flat-roof extension to the rear extending to the southwest. It was formerly known as 1 Glenside Place and forms part of a small crescent with the neighbouring houses at numbers 66 and 69 to the northwest, originally all known as Glenside.

The roof is pitched with natural slate and blue-black angled ridge tiles, with chimneys featuring tall clay pots. Eaves are embellished with cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on ovolo moulded detail. The walls are painted smooth render with plinth and quoins. Windows throughout are 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash in moulded surrounds with keyblock detail; moulded fanlight motifs embellish the first-floor windows, which also have a continuous sill. A dormer window lights the attic storey.

The principal elevation faces northeast. The first floor has two windows; the ground floor contains two windows to the right and an entrance door to the left. The entrance door itself has two elongated panels with a beaded muntin and kickboard, a transom light, and a moulded surround set within a segmental-headed moulded architrave bearing a decorative keyblock. A modern dormer has been added to the roof. The southeast elevation is abutted by the adjoining building. The southwest rear elevation features a window to the attic and ground floor of the gable, with a projecting wing from the rear extension opening to the north. The northwest elevation has a single first-floor window and is abutted by a two-storey return, which is itself abutted at ground-floor level by the large modern flat-roof extension.

The house stands prominently on a bend, set back from Victoria Road with the entrance to the northwest. A gravelled parking area with car-port occupies the front; the rear garden is large and lawned with shrubs, enclosed by mature hedgerow and trees.

Historical Development

The area of High Holywood began to develop around 1850 as Holywood became an increasingly desirable location for merchants and professionals seeking to escape Belfast. The opening of the railway in 1848 was transformative, making Holywood a commuter town accessible to a wide range of working people and an attractive prospect for landlords seeking good returns on rental investment. The pair first appears uncaptioned on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64 records two pairs of houses on the same plot: the current numbers 61 and 63, and numbers 65 and 67, which still survive. All four dwellings were listed as 'Glenside Place' in the printed valuation book. Contemporary sources suggest the houses date from around 1850, with a lease of the land dated 1st November 1848, suggesting construction shortly thereafter. At the time of the Griffith's Valuation, the house was occupied by Mary Bell, who rented from Anne Suffern, and was valued at £14 10 shillings, with yard and garden at 10 shillings.

'Glenside Place' features repeatedly in the Belfast Newsletter during the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1864 a house was advertised to let, and in April 1866 one was offered as a summer let for June, July and August. Throughout 1866, 1873, 1878 and 1894, houses here were sold or offered with the promise of good rental returns. An 1873 advertisement describes the property as pleasantly situated on high ground with a pleasure-ground in front and a garden to the rear sloping gently to the river, containing a parlour, two bedrooms, one sitting-room, three attics, kitchen, scullery and pantry. An 1894 advertisement praised the houses as situated in 'the best letting and healthiest locality in Holywood', always occupied and within ten minutes' walk of the railway station. By the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1900–02, the houses had been extended to the rear. The 1901 census records James Hunter, a linen merchant, in residence with his wife and seven children under 15. By 1911, Joseph Hill, manager of a sewing machine district, occupied the house with his wife and two daughters.

Much historic fabric survives, with the original floor-plan largely intact despite minor alterations to accommodate the modern rear extension. Architectural detailing to the principal elevation remains largely complete. The pair represents a good example of Victorian suburban housing in this area of Holywood and forms part of the town's development as a railway commuter destination. The house continues in residential use and has recently undergone further extension to the rear.