Former Station Master’s House, 2 Stockman's Lane, Belfast, Co Antrim., BT9 7JA

This former station master’s house of c.1882 is situated adjacent to Balmoral Station at the junction of Stockman’s Lane and a minor road to Musgrave Park Hospital. It is slightly below the level of the station, but elevated relative to the road. It has a landscaped garden around and is accessed by a gated driveway from SW. A brick wall and timber fence separate its garden from the footpath leading up to the station’s down line (Belfast direction). This two-storey, three-bay building is aligned NE-SW. It has a pitched artificial slate roof with a skylight to its NW pitch, projecting bargeboards (with decorative A frame to the NE gable), oversailing eaves (with circular embellishments along their bottom edges) and half-round gutters (uncertain if plastic or metal). There is a low brick chimney on each gable apex, each with two octagonal yellow chimney stacks. The walls are of red brick embellished with yellow brick on the quoins, FF platband around the building at window cill level, and on all the heads to the openings. The principal elevation faces SE and is symmetrical. At GF centre is a four-panel painted timber door with semicircular overlight. It is flanked to both sides by a two-over-two timber sliding sash window with segmental head and painted cill. At FF level, directly above the door, is a one-over-one sash window with semicircular head set in an eaves gablet. The SW gable is now abutted by a two-storey link block to a modern extension (see below). There is a window to its FF and undoubtedly a through doorway on the ground floor (not visible). The NW elevation has a two-over-two sash window at each end of the GF and two small one-over-one windows to middle. Above the latter, at intermediate level (probably a staircase landing) is a two-over-two sash. The NE gable has a two-over-two sash window to FF. The GF was not observable. A link block (timber sheeted to GF and glazed to FF) connects the building with a modern two-storey extension aligned at 90 degrees. It has a pitched profiled metal roof, plastic rainwater goods, plain cement-rendered walls and square-headed opes with uPVC fittings. Materials: Roof: Artificial slate Walling: Brick Windows: 2/2 sliding timber sash RWG: Unknown