27 Bloomfield Road, Belfast

27 Bloomfield Road is a three-storey semi-detached house built in 1900 in the Arts and Crafts style, designed by local Belfast architect William J. Moore. It forms part of a group of three pairs of semi-detached houses on the south side of Bloomfield Road and has considerable group value with its neighbours.

The house is built in red brick laid to a variation between English-garden bond and Scottish bond (four courses of stretchers to one of headers), with a projecting plinth course. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with roll-top red-clay ridge tiles, red-clay knob finials and a shared red-brick chimneystack with corbelled coping. All gables feature timber barge boards, and the property has half-round cast-iron guttering and circular cast-iron downpipes throughout.

The front elevation faces north and features a distinctive two-storey three-sided canted bay supporting a third storey gabled projection. This prominent bay is rendered with mock timber detailing and embellished with timber brackets, a continuous painted sill course, flush painted lintel course, terracotta mouldings and a terracotta plaque at the centre of each bay. Window openings on the principal elevations are square-headed with stop-chamfer jambs to brick openings. The original windows have been replaced with 1/1 double-hung timber sash windows with chamfered horns.

The east side elevation contains a two-storey single bay gabled projection with a segmental-headed door opening facing north, fitted with a replacement timber panelled door and fanlight and approached by a single nosed step. The west elevation features painted sills, flush painted lintels and terracotta mouldings, with a terracotta plaque over the main doorcase and a small porch at the south-east end.

A two-storey red-brick return projects to the rear with pitched natural slate roof, roll-top red-clay ridge tiles and a single course of decorative bricks. Window openings to the rear are square-headed with replacement top-hung timber casement windows. New openings to the ground floor of the return contain replacement timber casement windows and a modern glazed door. The west side elevation is abutted by the adjoining house No. 25.

The interior layout is substantially unchanged and detailing is largely intact. The external character, style and proportions have been largely retained.

The front yard is divided into a paved pathway and modest landscaped garden enclosed by hedge and metal gate. The rear yard is paved and enclosed by timber fence, with the rear porch timber boarded. An alleyway to the rear separates the dwelling from a row of three-storey terraced houses.

William J. Moore (c. 1873–1921) was a Belfast-based architect who established a private practice in Ann Street by 1896. Numbers 21–31 Bloomfield Road were amongst the earliest domestic buildings completed during his years in independent practice. Moore derived his style from the work of Scottish architect Norman Shaw, who made a significant break from established classical and gothic traditions and provided one of the stepping stones for the beginning of the modern Arts and Crafts movement.

The house was first recorded vacant in 1900 when owned by Francis Quinn of Francis Quinn & Sons and the Beechpark Estate Company. The first occupant was James Campbell, a local draper. By 1911 it was occupied by William S. Caughey, a book keeper, and the census return described it as a first-class dwelling consisting of 11 rooms. By 1935 ownership had passed to Joseph McMaster, who continued to own the property until the 1970s. The property value in 1900 was £16, rising to £24 by 1935 and £28 by 1972.

The house continues to be used as a domestic dwelling. In 1989 significant renovations were undertaken, including reslating the roof, complete reconstruction of the front-facing bay window, repointing of the brickwork and reconstruction of the chimney.