Woodbine Cottage, 132 Antrim Road, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT15 2AH

Woodbine Cottage is a small free-standing 1¾ storey planned cottage of approximately 1845–50, set on the west side of Antrim Road in Belfast with its symmetrical front elevation facing roughly east. The building is finished in painted lined render to the front and gables, with painted brick to the rear.

The main entrance to the centre of the front elevation consists of a panelled and glazed PVC double door with fake Georgian glazing bars sandwiched within the double glazing. Above the door is a narrow Greek key band, above which is a plain rectangular fanlight. The entrance sits within a shallow Doric portico with reeded entablature and lead-covered hipped roof. The threshold is finished with early 20th century mosaic tiling spelling out the name 'J McKenzie & Son'. Flanking the entrance are four tall Georgian-paned sash windows (6/6 panes) with simple moulded surrounds and plain entablatures—two to the left and two to the right. Plain pilasters rise to the edge of the façade, terminating in a plain frieze topped with a dentilled eaves course.

The south gable has a smaller first-floor window to the right, with moulded surround matching the front elevation. The north gable contains two first-floor windows of similar design, positioned to right and left. The rear elevation includes a timber-sheeted door with a large square fanlight to the left, and a large window with metal frame (probably enlarged in the mid 1900s) to the right. A small single-storey shed with mono-pitched roof extends from the rear. Set at a higher half-landing level to the centre of the rear elevation is a tall four-paned casement window. To the right of this is a small half-dormer with mono-pitched roof and sash window.

The gabled roof is slated with three small skylights to the front and one to the rear left. Two rendered chimney stacks rise at the gables. Cast iron rainwater goods are in place. A small space to the front of the house is enclosed by a low wall and plain railings.

The small shed extending from the rear elevation is constructed in painted brick with a slated roof. Its north face contains two small plain sash windows, and its short east face has a plain sheeted door. The shed narrows considerably at its west end, which is largely open. To the rear of the house is a small yard with a larger higher-level garden space, enclosed by tall brick walls to north and south and by a large two-storey shed (part brick, part corrugated metal, built c.1930s) to the west.

The Antrim Road in its present form was laid out circa 1820 and remained largely rural until the middle of the 19th century. Woodbine Cottage was one of the first dwellings built directly on the roadside, constructed on land held by the Tennent family since at least circa 1830. The exact date of construction is uncertain. The building does not appear on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832 but is shown on the 1857 map marked as 'Antrim Road Cottage'. However, no dwelling of this name appears in directories prior to that date. It is possible the house is the 'Antrim Place Cottage' listed in the 1852 directory as home to J. Beath, a commission merchant, or one of several unnamed houses listed along the road in 1840s directories. The 1860 valuation grades the building 'B+', suggesting it may have been approximately 20 years old or slightly older at that time, placing its construction around 1840. By 1860 the property was owned by John Francis Harbinson, a jeweller, and had been renamed 'Woodbine Cottage'. It was later occupied by tea merchant John Whitten and by 1896 by painter James McKenzie. The McKenzie family remained until the 1970s, running their painting business from the rear premises, with the large shed built around 1930s used for mixing paints. After years of virtual abandonment, the property was acquired by Hearth Housing Association and restored in 1995–96.