Rosemount House, 422 Antrim Road, Belfast, BT15 5GA

Rosemount House is a mid-terrace, two-bay, three-storey red brick and stucco Victorian house with attic, built in 1872 as one of a group of seven similar houses originally known as Fortwilliam Terrace (Nos 416–428 Antrim Road). The terrace was designed by Redfern Kelly (1845–1928), a Belfast-based engineer chiefly known for his work on behalf of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, including the deepening of the Victoria Channel, the reconstruction of the Alexandra Graving Dock following its collapse in 1905, and the construction of the Thompson Graving Dock. Kelly also designed a Masonic Hall in Larne and the Murlough Cottages in Dundrum. The building is now in use as a residential home.

The terrace is slightly elevated and set back on the west side of Antrim Road, screened from the road by a series of mature trees behind a low rendered wall. Its distinctive character rests on its vertical emphasis, graduated fenestration, and restrained neo-classical stucco mouldings, which together exemplify the formal aesthetics of mid-Victorian domestic architecture. A closely comparable terrace, also thought to have been designed by Kelly and formerly known as Castleton Terrace, was built in 1878 and sits almost directly opposite on the east side of Antrim Road.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing east. The pitched roof is clad in artificial slate and sits behind a stucco parapet wall with a deep moulded cornice and plain frieze. Replacement painted rendered dummy chimney stacks with painted pots rise from both party walls. There are no visible rainwater goods to the front; metal rainwater goods serve the rear. The main walls are of red brick laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing, with continuous moulded string courses at first- and second-floor sill levels.

The two-bay, three-storey east front elevation is the principal architectural feature of the building. At ground floor, a rendered three-sided canted bay window projects forward, with a continuous masonry sill, plat band, and shallow cornice to the parapet. The first-floor windows are framed by scrolled foliate console brackets that support a hood cornice, with moulded sills carried on stepped brackets. The second-floor windows have decorative painted lugged architrave surrounds with bracketed sills. All windows throughout are replacement single-pane timber sash windows with ogee horns.

To the left bay of the ground floor, the entrance door sits within a round-headed opening of gauged brick with a projecting bull-nosed surround. The replacement painted timber panelled door is flanked by fluted Ionic columns supporting a dentilated lintel cornice, with a plain glazed fanlight above. The door opens onto a concrete paved platform with a universal access ramp, enclosed by a low red brick wall and steel handrail. The south elevation abuts No. 420 Antrim Road, and the north elevation abuts No. 424 Antrim Road.

No. 422 Antrim Road, together with its neighbour No. 424, suffered serious fire damage and had fallen into an advanced state of dereliction by around 1995. A restoration carried out in 2005 resulted in the demolition of the rear of both properties behind their retained original Victorian façades, with a shared gabled-ended three-storey red brick rear return constructed across the rear elevation of both properties. Machine-made red brick laid in stretcher bond was used for the rear walls and return. A small enclosed rear yard remains, with a shared bitmac driveway to the front. The restoration converted the site into a drug abuse rehabilitation hostel. All original interior features were lost in this work, which substantially undermines the architectural value of the building. Nevertheless, the retention and restoration of the original façade using historically appropriate materials preserves the rhythm and form of the Victorian terrace and maintains its coherent appearance.

The terrace was built on the grounds of Hopefield House, a two-storey, six-bay mansion formerly occupied by the Sinclair family, in the townland of Skegoneil. Prior to the rapid industrial expansion of Belfast in the mid-19th century — driven by growth in shipbuilding, rope-making, and textiles — the surrounding area had been predominantly rural in character, as recorded on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. The development of Skegoneil during the 1870s reflected the tendency of wealthy merchants to move out of the overcrowded inner city, and the area swiftly became one of the most affluent parts of Belfast.

The terrace was leased by Samuel Lawther, manager of Samuel Lawther & Co., local coal importers and ship and insurance brokers with premises on Corporation Square, who resided on Duncairn Street. No. 422 was initially valued at £40 and first occupied by John Boyd, a branch inspector for the Northern Bank. At the time of both the 1901 and 1911 censuses the house stood vacant, though it was recorded as a first-class dwelling containing 14 rooms. By the 1930s it was occupied by Dr J. S. Lee, who remained at the address until at least the 1970s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the rateable value was raised to £46, and slightly further to £48 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72). The terrace was listed in 1987. The building has group value with the other listed houses in Fortwilliam Terrace.