35 Woodvale Road, Belfast, Co.Antrim, BT13 3BN

35 Woodvale Road, Belfast

A two-storey red brick former house built around 1865, located on the north side of Woodvale Road in the townland of Edenderry. The building is now in office use.

The house was constructed as one of a semi-detached pair, originally known as Woodville Terrace. The adjoining property, No. 33, was irrevocably damaged during the Luftwaffe attack on Belfast in 1941 and subsequently demolished. No. 35 itself suffered severe damage during the Blitz, with the roof, ceilings and original windows destroyed. Following repair and revaluation, the building has largely retained its original layout, though much of its interior detailing has been lost. The external appearance remains intact.

The building presents an asymmetrical three-bay front elevation facing south, set back on a bitumac paved parking area. The red brick walling is laid in Flemish bond with a painted stone plinth course. The pitched roof features artificial slate tiles with roll-moulded clay ridge tiles, replacement timber box fascia and replacement metal rainwater goods.

The front elevation comprises an advanced gabled bay to the left with paired windows to the first floor and a group of three windows to the ground floor. A wall-head dormer window rises to the right, with paired windows at ground floor level. The central bay features a shallow entrance porch projection with a lead-lined flat roof, dentilated cornice and round-headed door opening. The four-panelled timber door has bolection mouldings and an etched glass fanlight, opening onto two concrete paved steps flanked by a stone plinth wall with a cast-iron bootscraper.

The slender round-headed window openings are formed in flush yellow brick toothed surrounds with painted masonry sills. The original horizontally-glazed 2/2 timber sash windows lack horns. The west side elevation features two wall-head dormers to the first floor and paired windows to the ground floor. The rear elevation is cement rendered and abutted by a single-storey red brick extension built around 2000, which features UPVC windows with concrete sills. The east side elevation is abutted by an adjoining two-storey commercial building constructed in 1956.

The modest proportions and polychromatic brick façade exemplify late 19th-century domestic architecture and contribute historic value to the surrounding area. The building was first recorded in the 1865 Belfast Street Directory, which noted the two new villas were not yet named. It was originally valued at £17 and leased to Samuel Atkinson, a law agent. By the 1880s it was occupied by Charles Cotton, proprietor of Brookfield Foundry. The 1901 census described it as a second-class dwelling of ten rooms with a fowl house and shed. By 1930 it had passed to Jane McDowell, who occupied the property for approximately 70 years. Following the Blitz damage, the building was revalued at £26 and subsequently repaired. The roof to the rear was replaced around 1992. The building was listed in 1991 and converted to office premises following Jane McDowell's death around 2006.