159 Skegoniel Avenue, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 3JS

No. 159 Skegoneill Avenue is a detached, four-bay, one-and-a-half-storey red-brick former gate lodge built in 1893. It was constructed during the occupancy of William B. Ritchie, a local physician and magistrate, to serve as a back gate lodge to The Grove, a now-demolished 18th-century gentleman's residence that once occupied extensive grounds in the area. The Grove was home to Robert Simms, a proprietor of a paper mill in Ballyclare and a founding member of the United Irishmen who, along with his brother William and Samuel Nielson, established the Northern Star as the official newspaper of the United Irishmen in January 1792. Following the failed 1798 Rebellion, Robert and William Simms settled at The Grove. The property was recorded in Belfast Street Directories as The Grove's Back Lodge and was initially valued at £5 and 10 shillings. The first occupant was Thomas Black; by 1901, the building housed Andrew Clugston, who was employed as a gardener at The Grove. The 1901 census described it as a second-class dwelling consisting of four rooms.

The building stands adjacent to and parallel with Skegoneill Avenue, set back slightly from the pavement to the north. It features a pitched slate roof with terracotta roll-top ridge tiles, exposed rafter ends, and a beaded fascia. Timber bargeboards run to the overhanging verges at the east and west gables. A pair of red-brick chimneys with corbelled brick copings and terracotta chimney pots flank the building to east and west. The walling is constructed in red brick laid in English Garden wall bond with a moulded string course below eaves level. Square-headed openings have brick soldier courses and painted stone sills. The front elevation, facing north, contains four bays with an ocular window positioned over the entrance door. The east and west elevations each have an upper-level window opening with the remains of one-over-one timber sliding sash windows having ogee horns. A single-storey extension with a flat roof is attached to the south elevation. Windows are currently boarded. A brown brick boundary wall flanks the building to east and west. A low boundary wall to the north encloses grass with steps leading to the entrance door. The building is set adjacent to Brantwood FC football pitch, which occupies land that was formerly part of The Grove's grounds.

Skegoneill Avenue was originally known as Buttermilk Loney, an Ulster-Scots name reflecting the rural character of an area that supplied milk to the growing town, before being renamed in 1887. The Grove was demolished around 1950, at which point the back gate lodge was leased to tenants as a private dwelling. The former grounds were transferred to Belfast City Council and have been utilised as playing fields since the 1950s. Ownership of No. 159 Skegoneill Avenue passed to the trustees of F. Forbes and M. Taylor under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), with the property valued at £6. It was occupied by William Pierce until at least the 1970s. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the rateable value stood at £7 and 10 shillings. The building is now vacant and in a poor condition, with remnants of paint finish remaining to all walling and no rainwater goods present.