20 May Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT1 4NR

20 May Street is a three-storey, mid-19th century red brick terraced house built in the Georgian style, constructed around 1855. It first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of Belfast in 1858, forming the eastern end of a short terrace of four similar properties at nos 14–20 May Street. The building sits directly on the north side of May Street, a long axial street running from Oxford Street to Donegall Street South that was mostly laid out in the early 19th century, partly over land reclaimed through the construction of Henry Joy's paper mill over the Blackstaff River. The short section of May Street between Joy Street and Alfred Street, including this terrace, was originally known as Clarendon Place, a name retained until around 1860 when the entire length was permanently designated May Street. The street and the land on which the terrace stands were associated with the May family; Edward May pioneered the reclamation of the Blackstaff River and acquired a large number of the newly created leases from the Marquis of Donegall.

The terrace was constructed during an intermediate phase of Belfast's architectural development. The red brick Flemish-bond buildings employ materials and construction techniques of the early Victorian period, yet the overall design is conservative, closely resembling the formal townhouses of the Georgian period. The architectural historian Patton described the terrace as "Flemish bond redbrick houses with small-pane sashes and arc-headed doorcases with slender edge mouldings and plain fanlights, and recessed Ionic columns supporting plain entablatures; corbelled gutter on rendered wallhead." Few examples of pre-Victorian style housing survive in Belfast city centre, making this terrace a good example of the type of residence built for the professional classes during the mid-19th century growth of the city.

The building has a pitched natural slate roof with a modern rooflight, a moulded metal gutter on a bracketed timber gutter tray, a round cast iron downpipe, and a brick chimney to the east gable. The walling is in red Flemish bond brickwork, with a stucco eaves fascia, a string course at first-floor cill level, and the remains of a rusticated stucco plinth surrounding the ground-floor cill. The upper-floor window openings have painted stucco reveals and flat brick arches, now fitted with uPVC windows. The entrance doorway is set within a stucco moulded surround with an inset Ionic doorcase and a segmental arch; it retains its original fanlight with curved glazing bars and has a replacement six-panelled door, approached by two sandstone steps. A stone kerb runs across the frontage.

The south elevation, which faces May Street, has the entrance to the west side. The ground-floor windows have been removed to form a large, multi-paned shop window with a modern timber architrave. The first and second floors each have two windows. The west elevation abuts the adjoining terrace. The north elevation has a three-storey pitched-roof extension to the right with an adjoining single-storey flat-roofed modern extension extending to the gable, which includes an entrance door; the walls here are cement rendered. The windows on the rear are original timber sash windows in a six-over-six configuration: the original rear wall has a single window to the first and second floors; the extension has two windows to the two upper floors of the return wall and a first-floor window to the gable, while a smaller ground-floor gable window is shuttered. The east elevation abuts John Ross & Co.

May Street is a busy central thoroughfare passing to the rear of the City Hall. No. 16 sits opposite May Street Presbyterian Church. John Ross & Co adjoins the terrace to the east, and B.T. Shields is situated nearby to the west.

The building has a well-documented history of changing uses. In 1859 Griffith's Valuation valued it at £38, recording that it possessed a stable block and was leased by Sir Edward May to a Mr John Kennedy, a carpenter who designed stage coaches at his own factory. Kennedy lived here until his death in 1882, after which the house was sporadically occupied — by Mr John Gaffikin in 1887 and Mr James Sutherland in 1892, by which time the valuation had fallen to £35. By 1900 the former private dwelling had been converted into a warehouse for Brown & Forth, suppliers of aniline dyes, drugs and chemicals, while the ground floor was used as an office by Mr R.H. Andrews, a local estate agent. The valuer at that time noted that the building comprised eight rooms (including living rooms and bedrooms but excluding kitchens) and was fitted with gas heating and lighting; its value had risen to £41, and ownership had passed from Edward May to Mr Henry Kennedy. By at least 1907 the building had become 'Ye Olde Central Temperance Hotel', the establishment of a Mr J. McCracken, though it only operated as a hotel for a few years and lay vacant by 1908. In 1911 it returned to domestic use when Mr Joseph Wright, a bookkeeper aged 77 and a member of the Society of Friends, occupied it as his private residence with his wife Mary Anne (aged 71) and their three adult daughters. The 1911 Census building return described it as a first-class dwelling with a total of 13 rooms. Wright remained until his death in 1923, after which the building lay vacant until 1928, when it was converted to commercial premises and occupied by W & J Garrett, auctioneers, and a number of other firms. By 1930 the rateable value stood at £98 10s, rising to £97 5s under the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935. The terrace escaped the heavy bombardment of the Markets area of Belfast during the 1941 Blitz. By the 1950s the ground floor was occupied by Dollar Rae Shopfitters, a Glasgow-based company, and the current shopfront was installed at this time, while the upper floors continued as office space. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–1972) the total value stood at £295. The building was listed in 1988 along with the rest of the terrace, and in recent years it has been occupied by CMG Solicitors.

Although the building has been compromised by a number of alterations — most notably the replacement of ground-floor windows with a modern shopfront and the installation of uPVC windows to the upper floors — much of the historic fabric and detailing survives, including the original fanlight, the Ionic doorcase, the cast iron rainwater goods, and the original rear timber sash windows.