Little Lea, 76 Circular Road, Belfast, BT4 2GD

Little Lea is a large two-and-a-half-storey Domestic Revival suburban residence built in 1905, displaying all the characteristic features of the style: brick and roughcast walls with rosemary tile cladding to gables, projecting gabled bays, overhanging tiled roofs, multi-paned windows, dormers, and tall chimney stacks. A large, relatively recent and sympathetic two-storey extension stands at the western end. The house was built by Albert Lewis and served as the childhood home of writer C.S. Lewis, remaining in the Lewis family until 1930. It is situated on the western side of Circular Road with spacious gardens to north and south. For the purposes of this description, the front elevation, which actually faces roughly north-west, is described as facing north.

Front (North) Elevation

The front elevation is asymmetrical. Left of centre stands a large but shallow two-storey gabled bay. At the centre of its ground floor is a projecting gabled porch in brick with stone dressings. The north-facing gable of the porch contains a broad timber door with panelling to the lower two-thirds and Art Nouveau-style leaded glass to the upper third. The door is approached via two stone steps and an encaustic tiled threshold, flanked by low brick sides with stone coping and stone ball finials. The doorway has in-and-out sandstone dressings with bevelled reveals. On both the short east and west faces of the porch is a small sandstone-dressed window with quarter-circle reveals and bevelled flush cills, filled with Art Nouveau-style leaded glazing. The porch has stone-coped diagonal buttresses with stone quoins above buttress level. Its gable is stone-coped with stone ball finials to the kneelers and apex. The porch roof is tiled with an overhang featuring shaped rafter ends and plain fascias.

Either side of the porch, still within the bay, is a relatively small two-light mullioned window with in-and-out sandstone dressings and mullion, bevelled reveals, and small leaded panes, some filled with bullseye glass. The inner light of each window is a casement opening. At first floor level of the bay are three windows. The central window, probably lighting the half-landing, is twice as long as the identical outer two and has a four-light mullioned and transomed timber frame with Georgian-like but typically Edwardian multi-panes to each light. The outer two windows are much squatter but have similar style frames, as do most of the other windows throughout the house. The bay is brick-built with the gable itself clad in rosemary tiles, the lower rows of which are shaped.

To the left of the bay, the lower half of the façade is brick with painted roughcast to first floor level. On the ground floor right-hand side is a tall narrow window with a frame similar to those described above, and a much smaller window to the left on the first floor. To the right of the bay, the façade is finished in similar fashion. On the ground floor left and centre are two windows of differing size, both mainly tall and narrow, with another squatter window to the left on the first floor, close to the verge.

To the right (west) side of the elevation is the large, relatively recently added gabled extension, dating from approximately 1985. This is one-and-a-half storeys with a ground floor level façade and a vast expanse of roof visible only from the north. The ground floor façade consists wholly of a large area of modern-style glazing incorporating glazed doors. To its right is a much lower single-storey garage extension with a large modern up-and-over garage door and panelled and glazed door to the left, with a large multi-paned sidelight or fanlight.

East Elevation

The shorter east elevation has a complex appearance. To the right is a large two-storey gabled bay projecting off-centre from a larger one-and-a-half-storey gable. To the left of the larger gable, the roof level drops to two storeys once again, and at ground floor level of this section is a single-storey hipped roof projection. This projection is brick-built and has two small widely spaced windows. Out of its roof rises a broad brick chimney breast extending into a tall brick stack. The recessed façade against which the chimney breast rises is brick with no openings.

The two-storey projecting bay to the right of the single-storey hipped roof section is brick at ground floor and painted roughcast above. At ground floor is a large three-sided flat-roofed bay with window frames as previously described. At first floor is a wide, centrally positioned window. The larger two-and-a-half-storey gable from which the previously described gable projects is exposed only at first floor and attic level. At first floor it is roughcasted with a single narrow window to the left. At attic level it is tile-clad like the gable to the front and has a small square window to the left.

West Elevation

The west elevation consists of the gable of the single-storey garage (which could not be seen), the exposed section of the gable of the one-and-a-half-storey extension, and beyond this the exposed section of the gable of the original house. The gable of the one-and-a-half-storey extension is brick at ground floor and roughcast at first floor. To the left on the ground floor is a large modern-style window, whilst at the centre of the first floor is a single window with a top-hung opener. The large original gable beyond this is roughcasted at first floor and tile-clad at attic. To the left at attic level is a squat window.

Rear (South) Elevation

At the left-hand end of the rear elevation is the single-storey garage extension, which projects forward but is blank. On its short east face is a single window. To the right of this is the one-and-a-half-storey extension, brick at ground floor and roughcast at upper level. At ground floor is a modern bowed window, whilst at the upper level is a very small window close to the verge. To the right again is the original section of the house, also brick at ground floor with roughcast above. At ground floor is a large modern sliding patio door (originally a window) with a small narrow window to its right. At first floor are two windows of differing size, that to the right quite small.

The right-hand half of the rear elevation is occupied by a joined pair of large two-storey gabled bays. These are identical, with brick façades and large three-sided bays like that on the east elevation at ground floor, and tile cladding with a single broad window at first floor. At the very right-hand edge of the rear elevation are the short south faces of the small single-storey hipped roof section and two-storey bay described on the east elevation, both without openings. An Ulster History Circle blue plaque commemorating Little Lea's C.S. Lewis connection has been placed on the upper level of the south face of the two-storey bay.

Roof and Chimneys

The entire roof is covered in rosemary tiles and has an overhang with exposed rafter ends. The bargeboards are plain except for dentilled moulding near their upper edge. On the north side of the roof is a small flat-roofed dormer to the right (west) of centre. On the south side are two larger dormers, one just to the left of the gabled bays and abutting a chimney stack, the other set at a slightly higher level between the bays. The dormers have timber windows in similar style to those on the lower floors. There are two tall brick chimney stacks with stone coping to the north (centrally located on the original portion of the house) and two to the south (to either side of the bays). The chimney pots are something of a mixture. There used to be another stack on the west gable, but this was removed with the building of the extension. The rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and PVC.

Setting and Grounds

To the west of the house is another large recent single-storey garage set at an angle to the main building. To the east of the house is the driveway with recent-looking brick gate pillars and curving walls but no actual gates. There is a large garden to the north and a smaller but still large garden to the south. At the north end of the north garden is a belt of tall Castlewellan Golds screening the grounds of two properties beyond. These properties appear to have been built on ground originally belonging to Little Lea and are approached by a drive to the west.