7 Mount Charles, Belfast

7 Mount Charles is a three-storey with attic, mid-terraced brick townhouse with a pitched roof, designed by Alexander MacAlister (c.1821–97), a native of Carlow who spent his entire career in Belfast working almost exclusively in counties Antrim and Down. It was constructed in 1859 as the third house from the right in a terrace of nine (Nos 3–19 Mount Charles). The listing extends to the house itself, the rear yard wall, and the dwarf stone walls to either side of the front door.

The terrace faces north and lines the south side of Mount Charles, a tree-lined street running between Botanic Avenue to the east and University Road to the west, within the Queen's Conservation Area. The building is rectangular in plan with a projecting return to the rear. The rear return and yard back directly onto University Street, where a tall wall with false windows at high level gives the impression of a full three-storey façade — a deliberate and successful design feature that also makes the return bedroom unusually light and pleasant.

Development and Historical Context

The land was developed by Bernard ('Barney') Hughes (1805–78), an Armagh-born philanthropist who became Belfast's master baker and the owner of Ireland's largest milling business. The broader development of this part of south Belfast was made possible when the Donegall estate began granting perpetual leases — and eventually outright sales — of land from the mid-1820s onwards, opening up attractive plots along the Malone Ridge. The establishment of Queen's College in 1845 accelerated the process, and by the end of the 1850s the area was characterised by large, graceful terraces, early Victorian in date but late-Georgian in style.

Mount Charles itself occupies a trapezoidal plot between what was formerly Old Malone Road (now University Road) and Albion Lane (the forerunner of Botanic Avenue). The plot had previously contained a house probably dating from around 1770, recorded in the 1837 valuation as a two-storey residence and demolished around 1850. The street's original section (present Nos 2–6) was built in 1842, accessed by a short private lane off the main road. Nos 3–19 and 8–16 followed in 1859, with Nos 18–24 added in 1869 and Nos 26–50 in 1892–94. Despite this expansion, and uniquely among its neighbours — University Street, University Square, and Upper and Lower Crescent — Mount Charles retained its private, gated character.

When Nos 3–19 were previewed in The Dublin Builder of 1 May 1859, the writer described them as 'not large', with plots 'too confined for our notion of how towns should be built', but added that the proprietor appeared 'to be sparing no expense to render them durable and elegant dwellings for those whose aspirations do not go beyond paying £45 or £50 per annum rent.' The article noted that 'bay windows seem as much the rage now as hoops or crinoline', observed that all of Hughes's houses had their parlours enlarged and their exteriors decorated with bay windows, and that the properties were fitted with arrangements for hot and cold baths, sunk and covered ashpits in the yards, and 'everything necessary for comfort and convenience.' It further noted that 'the workmanship alone is contracted for, the proprietor supplying all the materials and the whole superintended by Mr. McAlister.' The nine houses on the south side were specifically remarked upon for their double frontage, with the returns extending to University Street and the yard wall built up to window and cornice height, giving the return bedrooms an unusual cheerfulness.

Occupancy History

The original tenant of No 7 appears to have been a Colonel Child or Childes. Subsequent occupants included Mrs Lewis (from around 1867), J.R. Edeson, described as 'Professor of Music' (from around 1869), William McClure, 'manager of York Street Spinning Mill' (from around 1873), Mrs J.M. Hannah (from around 1879), J. Wilson, 'tea merchant' (from around 1882), Christopher Wilson, 'tea merchant' and presumably a relative (from around 1885), and Mrs (Mary Jane) Wilson (from around 1891). In the 1901 census, Mrs Wilson is recorded as occupying No 7 with her daughter and a domestic servant; the house is described as a 'first class' dwelling with eleven rooms in use. By 1911 she was living there with three grandchildren. By 1918 the property had passed to John Stringer, described as a 'cutter', followed by E.J. Phoenix, 'commercial traveller', around 1928. During the Second World War the property was taken over for government use. By the early 1950s it had become a nursing home — the Alexandra Nursing Home. Harry P. Gregory, described as an electrician, was the householder by the 1960s, and Alan Crawford by 1970. In the later 1970s (after 1974), No 7 and its neighbour No 9 were acquired by Queen's University and converted into the University's Senior Employees' Club, with major remodelling of the interior carried out in the process. Despite a planning application in 1996 to convert both houses to student accommodation, they appear to have continued as a social club until around 2004, after which both have remained vacant.

Exterior

Materials throughout are red brick laid in Flemish bond with painted render, lime pointing, natural Welsh slate roofing with black clay ridge tiles, cast iron rainwater goods, and timber sliding sash windows.

The principal north-facing façade is three storeys of Flemish-bond brickwork. At ground floor level, a single-storey canted bay sits to the right and a deeply recessed doorway to the left. Above, there are two windows on each of the first and second floors, and a single rooflight at attic level, the type of which is not visible from the street. All front windows are single-glazed timber sliding sash and appear to be original. Ground and first floor windows have horns; second floor windows do not. Windows to the canted bay and first floor are horizontally split 2/2 panes. Second floor windows are 8/8, and both have modern plastic vents installed within their top panes. First and second floor window heads are straight with splayed brick soldiers. A continuous painted stone cill course runs across both the first and second floors. There is a deep painted rendered plinth at the base and a similar frieze beneath the eaves.

The canted bay to the right is painted render with moulded plaster detailing; its lower section beneath the cill is formed by the deep plinth. It has a flat roof with roofing felt over a projecting cornice. A metal pipe from the bay parapet discharges to a separate narrow cast iron downpipe to the right side of the bay.

The doorway has an elliptical arched head with brick voussoirs and a moulded plaster reveal. It is deeply recessed with Ionic columns to each side, set on raised moulded plaster panelled bases. The columns support a moulded plaster entablature with a plain fanlight above. The cornice, columns, and bases sit on two replacement concrete steps, with original stone dwarf walls to either side. Remnants of an iron boot scraper are visible to the right. The four-panelled timber door appears to be original, retaining its original brass handle, though the remaining ironmongery has been replaced and the letterbox has been covered over.

The pitched roof carries natural Welsh slate and black clay ridge tiles. Brick chimney stacks, shared with Nos 5 and 9, are centred on the ridge with corbelled detailing and circular clay pots (number unknown). One stack to the left appears to be original; the one to the right may have been rebuilt. Cast aluminium ogee guttering is fitted at eaves level.

Both side elevations are fully abutted — to the east by No 9 and to the west by No 5.

The rear south-facing elevation is three storeys, abutted on the right side by an original three-storey return built at half-landing height. The main block has a pitched natural Welsh slate roof with one rooflight to the left side; the return has a hipped natural Welsh slate roof with black clay ridge tiles. A small brick chimney, likely of 20th-century date, sits to the right side of the rear return with clay pots. The second floor window to the left of the main rear elevation is an 8/8 single-glazed timber sliding sash, apparently original, though boarded over on the inside face with timber panelling. The remainder of the rear yard is not visible.

University Street Façade

The three-storey yard wall facing University Street is constructed of dark brown brick in Flemish bond with a rendered plinth and eaves band. At ground floor level, a replacement yard door to the left is boarded over with a painted timber panel, with only a small section of the fanlight behind it visible. To the right is a 6/6 window, possibly original, with wrought iron bars attached to the reveals, painted stone cills, and obscure glass, most panes smashed. A diminutive square single-pane window opening to the right is partially bricked up with a metal vent inserted at the top. At first floor level there is a false multi-pane window frame with no glass to the left side (boarded over on the inside face) and a 6/6 window to the right with clear single-glazed panes, also boarded over internally. First floor openings have shallow arched heads. At second floor level there is a false multi-pane window frame with no glass to the left and a 6/6 window to the right with obscure glazing; these heads are straight. A cast iron gutter sits above the painted rendered eaves band. The front of each house in the terrace is accessed directly from the tree-lined pavement of Mount Charles, while the rear is accessed directly from University Street via the yard door.

Interior

Despite major remodelling carried out when the building was converted for use as a university social club, some original historic detailing survives internally.

Significance and Setting

No 7 retains much of its original exterior character, proportions, and detailing, including the single-storey canted bay and deeply recessed doorway with Ionic columns — features repeated consistently along the entire terrace. The terrace as a whole (Nos 3–19 Mount Charles) carries strong group value, and the dual aspect onto both Mount Charles and University Street — a design feature executed with considerable confidence — adds significant character to the building's setting within the Queen's Conservation Area.