17 Mount Charles, Belfast

No. 17 Mount Charles is a three-storey with attic mid-terraced brick townhouse with a pitched roof, designed by Alexander MacAlister (c.1821–97), a Carlow-born architect who spent his entire career working on commissions almost exclusively in counties Antrim and Down, and constructed in 1859. It is one of a terrace of nine (Nos. 3–19 Mount Charles), and sits as the eighth house from the right when viewed from the street, flanked on the west by No. 15 and on the east by No. 19. The house is rectangular in plan with a projecting return to the rear. Originally built as a private townhouse, it now serves as university student accommodation and has been refurbished for this purpose, with some subdivision of the original plan form, though the staircase survives in its original position.

Setting and Context

The terrace faces north and lines the south side of Mount Charles, a tree-lined street running between Botanic Avenue to the east and University Road to the west, within the Queen's Conservation Area. The rear return and yard back directly onto University Street, where a tall boundary wall — built to the same height as the windows and cornice of the main house — incorporates false windows at upper levels, giving the convincing appearance of a full three-storey façade. This double-frontage was a deliberate and noted design feature: a contemporary review in The Dublin Builder of 1 May 1859 remarked that it had "the advantage of making the return bedroom one of the most cheerful and desirable in the house, which is far from usual." The front of each house in the terrace is accessed directly from the tree-lined pavement of Mount Charles, while the rear is reached from University Street via the yard door.

Historical Background

The land on which the terrace stands was developed by Bernard ('Barney') Hughes (1805–78), an Armagh-born baker who became Belfast's master baker and the owner of Ireland's largest milling concern, and who was also a noted philanthropist. Hughes had initially offered part of his Mount Charles holding to the Redemptorist Order to serve the Catholic community of the Malone area, but when this was declined he resolved to develop the site for dwelling houses in keeping with the existing terraces nearby.

The broader area had begun to open up following the granting of perpetual leases — and eventually outright sales — by the Donegall estate from the mid-1820s onwards, which made attractive plots along the Malone Ridge available to developers. The establishment of Queen's College in 1845 intensified development, and by the end of the 1850s the area was characterised by large rows of graceful terraces, largely early Victorian in date but late-Georgian in style. Mount Charles itself occupies a trapezoidal plot between the former Old Malone Road (now University Road) and Albion Lane (the forerunner of Botanic Avenue). The plot had previously contained a pre-1830s house, probably dating from around 1770, recorded in the 1837 valuation as a two-storey residence, which was demolished around 1850. The present street began with Nos. 2–6, built in 1842 and reached by a short private lane off the main road. Nos. 3–19 and 8–16 were added in 1859, followed by Nos. 18–24 in 1869, and Nos. 26–50 in 1892–94. Despite eventually being linked through to Botanic Avenue, Mount Charles retained its private, gated character throughout.

The properties were previewed in The Dublin Builder of 1 May 1859, whose correspondent described them as "not large," their plots "too confined for our notion of how towns should be built, but the proprietor appears to be sparing no expense to render them durable and elegant dwellings for those whose aspirations do not go beyond paying £45 or £50 per annum rent." The reviewer also noted: "Bay windows seem as much the rage now as hoops or crinoline! All Mr. Hughes' houses have their parlours enlarged and their exteriors decorated with this appendage and fitted up with arrangements for hot and cold baths, sunk and covered ashpits in the yards, and everything necessary for comfort and convenience. The workmanship alone is contracted for, the proprietor supplying all the materials and the whole superintended by Mr. McAlister."

Occupancy History

No. 17 appears to have been first occupied by William Mullan, a shopkeeper with premises in Donegall Place, who remained until around 1867. He was succeeded by Thomas Fawcett junior, a linen merchant, followed by John Park, Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Queen's College (the present Queen's University Belfast). By at least 1890, Joseph R. Hall, a box maker, had taken on the lease, with the Reverend Samuel D. Burnside, Minister of Carryduff Presbyterian Church, in residence by 1897. The 1901 census records Reverend Burnside living there with his wife Frances, their grown-up daughter and son, and a domestic servant; the building is noted as a "first class" dwelling with 11 rooms in use. By 1907 a Miss L. J. Phillips and Frank Riley, an artist, were resident, and by 1910 the Costigan family had moved in. The 1911 census records William Costigan, a sculptor, his wife May Kathleen, their young daughter, and a domestic servant. The Costigans remained until at least the mid-1920s. The property is recorded as vacant in 1932, and at some point between then and 1943 was divided into three flats, apparently remaining in that form until acquired by Queen's University around 1990–91.

Exterior: Materials and Construction

The roof is covered in natural Welsh slate with black clay ridge tiles, with modern rooflights to both front and rear. The walls are red brick laid in Flemish bond with painted render to specific elements, and lime pointing. Rainwater goods are cast aluminium, with a small section of PVC at the canted bay. Windows throughout are timber sliding sash with horns, single-glazed replacements.

Front Elevation (North)

The three-storey Flemish-bond brick façade has, at ground floor level, a single-storey canted rendered bay to the right and a deeply recessed doorway to the left. The first and second floors each have two windows, and there are two modern rooflights at attic level. All front windows are single-glazed timber sliding sash with horns and are replacements. Windows to the canted bay and at first floor level are horizontally split 2/2 (the lower sashes of the bay windows have a translucent film applied to their inner faces). Second floor windows are 8/8. Window heads at first and second floor level are straight with splayed brick soldiers. A continuous painted stone cill course runs across first and second floor levels. A deep painted rendered plinth runs along the base, with a similar frieze beneath the eaves.

The canted bay to the right is of painted render with moulded plaster detailing; the lower section beneath the cill is formed by the deep plinth. The bay has a flat roof with a modern roof membrane over a projecting cornice. The doorway has an elliptical arched head with brick voussoirs and a moulded plaster reveal, deeply recessed with Ionic columns to each side set on raised moulded plaster panelled bases. The columns support a moulded plaster entablature with a plain fanlight above. The cornice, columns, and bases sit atop two replacement concrete steps with a dwarf wall to each side. The four-panelled timber door appears to be original, though the two top panels have been replaced with glazing; the ironmongery has been replaced.

The pitched roof has brick chimney stacks to left and right (both rebuilt), shared with Nos. 15 and 19, centred on the ridge with corbelled detailing and seven circular clay pots each. The rainwater goods consist of a cast aluminium ogee gutter, a cast metal downpipe with hopper from the canted bay, and a small section of PVC pipe from the bay into a cast iron hopper.

Rear Elevation (South) and Yard

The three-storey rear façade is abutted by an original three-storey return on the right side, built at half-landing height. All rear walls within the yard are painted render. The rear yard is enclosed by the rear wall of the house, the return to the right, the return of No. 15 to the left, and the three-storey yard wall onto University Street. The main block has a pitched natural Welsh slate roof with one modern rooflight to the left side; the return has a hipped natural Welsh slate roof with black clay ridge tiles. All rear windows are single-glazed timber sliding sash with horns and are replacements, with the possible exception of one ground floor window on the rear yard wall.

The rear elevation of the main block has a 2/2 horizontally split window on the left side at each level, with painted stone cills. A smaller single 6/6 window is located at attic half-landing level on the right side, above the roof of the return. The elevation of the return facing into the yard has a replacement timber back door to the extreme left, with a 6/6 window above at first floor level and a smaller 6/6 window above that at second floor level. There is one 6/6 window to the right of the back door at ground floor level, possibly original. Cast metal rainwater goods serve the yard.

The internal face of the yard wall onto University Street has a replacement timber sheeted door with a plain fanlight at ground floor level, and two multi-pane timber window frames above — one at first floor level and one at second floor level — both with slim painted stone cills but no glass. The wall has a plain flat concrete coping stone.

The three-storey University Street façade itself is constructed of dark brown brick in Flemish bond with a rendered plinth and eaves band. The replacement yard door on the left is painted timber panelling with a plain fanlight beneath a semi-circular head with brick voussoirs. To the right is a 6/6 window, possibly original, with wrought iron bars attached to the reveals and a painted stone cill, and a diminutive square single-pane window with frosted glass to the right-hand side. At first floor level there is a false multi-pane window frame (no glass) to the left and a 6/6 window to the right, with shallow arched heads. The second floor arrangement mirrors the first, except that the heads are straight. A cast iron gutter sits above the painted rendered eaves band.

Alterations

When Queen's University acquired Nos. 11–19 around 1990–91 and converted them to student accommodation, a programme of works was carried out that included: the rebuilding of the chimney stacks and replacement of pots; re-slating of the roofs in new Bangor Blues; introduction of cast aluminium rainwater goods in place of the original cast iron; external and internal re-plastering (no original plaster detailing remained internally at that stage); re-pointing of the brickwork; renewal of all window frames; replacement of the entrance steps in reconstituted stone; renewal of the rooflights to front and rear; and replacement of all internal joinery with the exception of the staircases. A further refurbishment by the university in more recent times has involved the replacement of all kitchens and bathrooms and further changes to the joinery.

The terrace as a whole carries strong group value as part of Nos. 3–19 Mount Charles, and the dual aspect onto both Mount Charles and University Street — a design feature carried out with considerable success — adds significant character to its setting within the Queen's Conservation Area.