12 St. Johns Avenue, BELFAST, BT7 3JE

12 St Johns Avenue, Belfast

A three-storey semi-detached house built in 1908, attached to No. 40 St John's Park. The building is square on plan with a double-pitched roof, side entrance porch, single-storey return, and enclosed yard to the rear. It stands near Ormeau Road, approximately 3 kilometres from the city centre, positioned at the corner of St John's Avenue and St John's Park within a residential area of mainly early-to-mid 20th century semi-detached red-brick housing with double canted bay fronts.

The house is constructed with red-brick walls in Flemish bond at ground level, with painted rough-cast render to first floor level. The roof comprises replacement red concrete roof tiles with cast iron rainwater goods. Windows are generally single-glazed painted timber sliding sash in 6/1 configuration, with some variations detailed below.

Front elevation facing east features a gabled three-storey projecting bay to the right-hand side, with a projecting bay at ground level to the left flush with the right gable. The right-hand projecting gable at ground level contains a canted bay with three windows, plain brick piers, and a high parapet roof with scallop detail and slim concrete copings. The left-hand projecting bay has a pair of windows beneath a mono-pitch roof with red concrete tiles. Window openings are square-headed with plain painted concrete lintels and concrete cills. At first floor level are two segmental-arch headed 'Wyatt' style windows centrally positioned above each bay. Each comprises a central 6/1 window flanked by two 2/1 side lights, with red-brick surrounds featuring quoin-style reveals. The right projecting gable at second floor level displays a centrally located oval window opening with red-brick surround and a painted timber oval window with central pivot opening. A single square flat-roofed dormer with lead covering and painted timber square window is centrally positioned over the left-hand projecting bay. Walls above first floor are finished in slap-dash render, painted off-white. Deep overhanging eaves feature painted timber exposed rafter ends, moulded fascia, and cast-iron guttering. A slim red-brick chimney with slim moulded concrete cap and red-clay pots sits to the left.

The rear elevation facing west has a gabled three-storey projecting bay to the left-hand side, with a window opening to the right at ground level containing a 6/1 sliding sash window beneath a flat segmental arched head, and a similar window at first floor level, both with painted concrete cills. A small window opening with flat segmental arched head and 1/1 sliding sash window sits to the left at ground level. The left-hand projecting gable at first floor level contains three similar square-headed stairwell openings with sliding sash windows featuring stained glass lower sections (one 4/1 and two 6/1). At second floor level to the right is a round-headed arched window opening with arched overlight and 4/1 sliding sash window with stained glass lower section. To the left is a segmental-headed arched window with 6/2 sliding sash window opening. Walls to the right are red-brick in Flemish bond; to the left they are slap-dash render, painted off-white, with painted concrete cills. Deep overhanging eaves feature painted timber moulded fascia, exposed rafter ends, boarded timber soffit, and cast-iron guttering. The roof is double-pitched with replacement red concrete roof tiles and ridge tiles. A tall moulded ventilation pipe sits on the gable apex. A red-brick chimney with slim moulded concrete cap and red-clay pots stands to the right. A single-storey return is attached to the left.

The north side elevation has a slightly projecting porch almost centrally positioned and a pair of narrow windows to the right-hand side with flat segmental arched heads, concrete cills, and 4/2 single-glazed sliding sash windows with obscure glass. The projecting porch features a door opening to the right and a window opening to the left. The window is a bi-partite painted timber stained glass casement with top lights (all fixed). The door is original varnished timber with a two-panelled lower section and three upper glazed panels with stained glass. A painted timber canopy supported on carved painted timber brackets with painted timber boarded soffit covers both openings. The openings have segmental-arch heads with a painted concrete tympanum featuring a circular indent, and painted concrete courses at impost and cill level; the doorway cill level features ogee moulding. A metal lamp is fixed to the wall to the left of the door, and a large cast iron downpipe with original hopper stands to the right of the porch. Ground floor walls are smooth red-clay brick in Flemish bond. At first floor level to the right are two similar flat segmental-arch headed windows (one 6/2 and one 4/2) with red-brick surrounds featuring quoin-style reveals. Walls above ground level are slap-dash render, painted off-white. Deep overhanging eaves feature painted timber exposed rafter ends, moulded fascia, and cast-iron guttering. A 'gablet' with slatted painted timber inset marks where the gable of the main roof intersects the ridge. The roof is double-pitched with replacement red concrete roof tiles and ridge tiles, with a slim red-brick chimney at centre featuring slim moulded concrete cap and red-clay pots. To the west of the side elevation is a single-storey return adjoining the gable of a single-storey garage extension. The return has an original flat segmental-headed door opening with painted boarded timber yard door to the left, both with double-pitched roofs of replacement red concrete roof tiles and ridge tiles with cast metal rainwater goods.

The south side elevation abuts No. 40 St John's Park. Within the enclosed yard to the rear are a single-storey red-brick return to the north adjoining a modern single-storey red-brick garage to the west. The return features two replacement varnished timber glazed doors (one single and one double), and the garage features a replacement varnished timber glazed door with side-light.

A small front garden, lawned and bounded with hedgerow, faces St John's Park. On St John's Avenue to the left is a small replacement 20th-century gateway with metal gates mounted on plain square red-brick piers with concrete caps. To the right is a larger vehicular gateway with double gates and piers in similar style. Through the pedestrian gateway, concrete paviors lead to the entrance porch on the north façade, with concrete surface finish extending westward towards the single-storey garage.