370 Beersbridge Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT5 5DZ

No. 370 Beersbridge Road is a semi-detached two-bay two-storey cottage built in 1880, constructed from rock-faced Scrabo sandstone and most likely designed by the prominent Belfast architectural firm Young & Mackenzie. It forms part of a row of three pairs of semi-detached cottages on the north side of Beersbridge Road, and sits within the townland of Ballyhackamore.

The building has a rectangular plan form facing south, with an entrance canopy projecting from the east side elevation and single-storey returns to the rear. The roof is half-hipped and was originally finished in natural slate, now replaced with fibre cement slate. Eaves are projecting with exposed rafters, bracketed half-round cast-iron guttering, and circular cast-iron downpipes. The east side of the roof has exposed purlins and angled red-clay hip-tiles. There are two chimneystacks: a replacement redbrick square chimneystack to the east, and an original shared redbrick chimneystack to the west with corbelled coping and red-clay chimney pots.

The external walling is laid in un-coursed rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with a cut stone plinth course. A continuous cut stone sill runs at first-floor level, and window openings are flanked by stone dressings on painted sills. The front elevation has two asymmetrical bays. Each bay has a square-headed ground-floor window with a discharging arch over the lintel. The ground-floor windows are 1/1 double-hung timber sash windows with ogee horns. The west bay has paired sash windows at both ground and first floor. At first-floor level, each bay has a flat-headed lucarne — that is, a dormer built off the face of the wall — with a fibre cement roof.

The east side elevation features decorative timber bargeboards and a projecting entrance canopy with a fibre cement slate hipped roof supported on timber brackets, with half-round cast-iron guttering and circular cast-iron downpipes. The entrance is recessed and faces west, opening onto a single concrete step with a timber finish. The original half-glazed panelled front door has brass door furniture and a small fanlight above. To the right of the entrance is a small arched recess in the wall, originally housing a cast-iron boot scraper, which has been removed. The side elevation's square-headed window openings also have discharging arches over the lintels and are fitted with top-hung timber sash windows.

The west side elevation abuts the adjoining house at No. 368 and is also abutted by a stone wall laid in un-coursed rock-faced Scrabo sandstone, with a cut stone plinth course, cut stone capping, and a square-headed door opening fitted with a sheeted timber door giving access to the back yard. No access to the rear elevation was available at the time of survey, though the original rear return appears to be intact with no apparent rear extension, and the rear elevation appears to have two dormer windows.

The setting includes a gravelled driveway and lawn enclosed by metal fencing, accessed through a metal gate.

Although the roof has been re-covered in fibre cement slate — a detraction from the building's original character — the majority of the external fabric and detailing otherwise survives intact, and the building retains its original style, proportions, and ornamentation. Internally, the ground-floor plan was altered around 2005 when a wall between the two front reception rooms was demolished. The exterior stonework was renovated and repointed in 1985.

The cottage was built as part of the eastward expansion of Belfast during the late Victorian period. From the mid-19th century onwards, Belfast's town centre had been progressively redeveloped for commercial use, displacing its earlier Georgian character and driving a surge in residential construction beyond the former urban boundary. No. 370 Beersbridge Road was built for the Bloomfield Land and Building Company Limited, a development company formed in 1874 by the landowning Boyd family to secure building leases in the East Belfast townlands of Ballyhackamore and Ballycloughan.

Young & Mackenzie are the attributed architects. The Dictionary of Irish Architects describes the firm as "the most successful architectural practice in Belfast… the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the North East," who also received some of the most important commercial commissions in the city. Young & Mackenzie's own papers record that in 1878 the firm designed five double cottages — ten dwellings in total — for the Bloomfield Land and Building Company at nos. 382–400 Beersbridge Road, a redbrick terrace. The neighbouring nos. 376–380 followed in 1880. Nos. 364–374 Beersbridge Road, including No. 370, were also constructed in 1880 for the same company and are remarkably similar in design to the confirmed Young & Mackenzie cottages, though more impressive in character, with additional dormer windows and Scrabo sandstone facades in place of redbrick.

No. 370 first appeared in valuation records in 1880, when the Annual Revisions recorded a rateable value of £15. The property was also known as "Ivy Cottage," and its first recorded occupant was a Mrs Mary Watson. By 1911 the cottage was occupied by Hugh Telford, a retired farmer, and the census building return described it as a second-class dwelling comprising six rooms. By the time the Annual Revisions were cancelled in 1930, the rateable value had fallen slightly to £14 10s. Under the First Revaluation of 1935 this rose to £29, and was marginally reduced to £28 under the Second Revaluation of 1956–72. The building was listed in 1984, along with the adjoining cottages.

No. 370 Beersbridge Road has group value with the adjacent row of semi-detached houses to the north of Beersbridge Road, all listed under the same designation.