21 College Gardens, Belfast

A mid-terrace, three-storey town house with attic and semi-basement, built in 1881 in red brick by an unknown architect. It forms part of a block of four similar houses (Nos 19, 20 and 22), largely symmetrical in composition with No 19 mirrored by No 22 at the gable ends, and Nos 20 and 21 between. The building sits midway along College Gardens, a tree-lined street of similarly scaled townhouses running from Malone Road to Lisburn Road within the Queens Conservation Area. The south-facing façade overlooks the grounds of Methodist College.

The front elevation is asymmetrical, with the entrance positioned to the right at ground floor and a projecting bowed bay with three windows to the left. Three windows appear at first and second floors respectively, with two paired over the bay and one aligned with the ground floor entrance. A gabled attic dormer, centred on the eaves and containing twin round-arched sliding sash windows, crowns the composition. All openings below the attic level are segmental-headed and diminish in height from ground to second floor. The ground floor bay features a cornice and frieze matching the main roof with a Renaissance-style balustrade. The first floor displays plain pilasters between cill and impost level, with a continuous stucco band enriched with classical mouldings. The moulded stucco surrounds to the ground floor bay windows have corresponding brackets below a continuous projecting cill; the second floor repeats this detail with simple chevron moulding in place of brackets. Ornate floral detail and exaggerated pitched keystones enhance the first floor window surrounds. The entrance comprises a two-panel timber door with raised fields and bolection moulding, topped by a plain glass over-light on a simple transom and surrounded by an elaborate concentric arched stucco frame with egg-and-dart and chevron moulding, pitched keystone and simple pilasters, all painted.

The roof is natural slate with red clay crested ridge tiles. A single red brick chimney has been replaced in modern red brick with several circular clay pots. Projecting moulded eaves to the front are supported on scrolled modillions; the deep frieze comprises fluted pilasters between alternating panels, each with a central roundel in a moulded rectangular frame and paired raised and fielded panels. The base of each pilaster is embellished with bestial head moulding. The rear eaves are simpler, composed of alternating angular bricks. Three modern roof-lights pierce the rear pitch.

The rear elevation features a full-height lean-to projection and a double return built at half-landing level to the left side. The lean-to is blank except for a chimneystack with replaced brick above the eaves, concrete coping and red clay pots. The double return steps down from four to three storeys. The hipped-roof portion of the return has a canted bay window at second floor, centred on the hip with a timber frame and replacement double-glazed casement windows, a timber beam with decorative carved ends and exposed rafter tails. The flat-roofed return includes a single-storey flat-roofed abutment at basement level with a bricked-up former door opening; two double-glazed casement windows at ground floor; and at first floor one small casement window offset to the right and a large round-arched sliding sash window with 1/1 panes fitted with Edwardian-style leaded glass sandwiched between two panes of float glass. The rear elevation is detailed more simply than the front, with flat arched openings, soldier-coursed brick headers and square-edged painted cills, mostly in stone. Window reveals are rendered and painted.

Materials throughout include red brick in Flemish bond with stucco dressings to the south and west elevations, and English Garden Wall bond to the north and returns. Windows are timber-framed double-glazed replacement sliding sash with 1/1 panes on the south elevation and 2/2 panes to the north, unless otherwise stated. Sashes with 2/2 panes contain one continuous double-glazed unit per sash with a central glazing bar face-fixed to the glass and additional spacers inside the sealed unit in line with the bar, creating no through astragal. Basement windows are side-hung casements. The roof employs natural slate except the three-storey flat-roofed return, which has an asphalt membrane. Rainwater gutters and pipes comprise ogee profile cast metal guttering and circular section cast metal pipes to the main roof; uPVC guttering with cast iron pipes to the hipped roof; and uPVC guttering and pipes to the flat roof.

The east elevation is abutted by No 20 College Gardens, including its return. The west elevation of the main building is abutted by No 22 College Gardens. The west face of the lean-to projection and double return features one opening at each half-landing level: a sliding sash with 2/2 panes and a modern sheeted timber door to the basement. The hipped-roof return includes an escape window at second floor (a timber casement with concrete lintel); two windows at first floor, that to the left also serving as an escape window; two windows at ground floor and a single casement window at basement level. The escape windows are tilt-and-turn casements opening onto galvanised steel landings with escape ladders. The flat-roofed return has informally arranged windows: at first floor a sliding sash with 2/2 panes and a smaller fixed light; at ground floor a sliding sash with 1/1 panes; and two casement windows at basement level, not aligned. Soldier-course headers suggest a third basement window, now bricked up.

The building sits set back from the tree-lined street by a low red brick wall with chamfered stone coping topped by modern metal railings painted black, with a hedge behind. The front door opens onto a broad step with a coloured band formed in concrete aggregate, flanked by painted dwarf walls with an open balustrade between square end piers. The hedge aligns the boundary with the front garden of No 20. The rear boundary to Elmwood Mews is marked by red brick walling with a pitched terracotta cap and a wide opening with concrete lintel, formerly containing a sheeted timber fold-back door (as of August 2016) now boarded over, with an additional pedestrian door to Elmwood Mews. The rear yard and path at the front and side of the house are paved with square concrete pavers. The front garden is tarmacked to provide off-street parking and a vehicular entrance shared with No 22.