Tieve Tara, 92 Somerton Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 4DE

Tieve Tara is a detached, two-bay, two-storey-with-attic red brick and rendered Arts and Crafts villa, built in 1907 to designs by the Belfast architectural partnership Watt (Graeme) & Tulloch. It sits on an irregular plan with a single-storey entrance porch to the north and a veranda to the south-east. A single-storey gabled extension to the west was added around 2000. The house is located to the east of Somerton Road, adjacent to St. Patrick's Secondary School to the south, and sits within its own mature grounds.

The building is one of a number of substantial "gentleman's residences" erected in this part of north Belfast following the breakup of the Fortwilliam Estate in the mid-19th century. Larmour records that many grand mansions were built on the former estate in the 1860s and 1870s, though only a few now survive. The land on which Tieve Tara stands was originally owned by George S. Clarke and James and John McFerran. The original plans are held at Belfast City Hall. Watt (Graeme) & Tulloch was formed in 1895 and carried out predominantly commercial work in the city, with only a small number of domestic commissions to their name — among them a two-storey Arts and Crafts lodge at Home Farm Lodge in Carnalea (around 1900) and Cultra House in North Down (1902).

The plan incorporates numerous gables and projecting bays across all elevations. Two-storey shallow bows project to each bay of the east gable; a single-storey canted bay projects to the north; and projecting two-storey gables appear to the north, west, and south.

The roof is pitched slate with terracotta ridge tiles and finials to the east gables, overhanging eaves with exposed scrolled rafter-ends, painted soffits, and dentiled painted timber bargeboards. Rainwater goods are ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering discharging to circular downpipes, with decorative hoppers and rose brackets throughout. There are three fluted brick chimney stacks, each with a decorative brick cornice to a flat stone coping and round terracotta pots.

Windows throughout are square-headed with painted stone sills and timber casement frames with leaded upper panes, with some metal-framed casements also present.

On the east elevation, the red brick walling features a raised brick plinth and a projecting moulded string course on brick dentils. The roughcast rendered bow bays have curved mono-pitch leaded roofs on a moulded brick eaves course with dentils. At attic level, the north-east gable has decorative timber boarding with roughcast render inset on shallow modillions. A single-bay arcaded veranda to the south side has painted timber posts with vertical timber boarding above. The entrance porch to the north has a flat roof with a raised stepped parapet with chamfered and ovolo rendered coping. The entrance door opening is square-headed with a chamfered rendered surround, flanking pilasters, and a projecting moulded cornice. The entrance step is mosaic tiled, and the original timber panelled door has an eight-pane glazed opening incorporating two bullseye glass panes.

On the north elevation, the canted bay has a hipped slate roof on a moulded brick eaves course with dentils. A projecting central gable rises through the first and second floors, with a dressed sandstone surround and transoms to the first-floor window, which features coloured leaded glass inset with an opening casement to the bottom pane. There is a flat-headed dormer at attic level.

On the west elevation, a projecting gable to the south-west return has a raised chimney breast leading to a fluted stack, along with the red brick gabled extension to the rear, which also has a pitched slate roof and terracotta ridge tiles.

On the south elevation, the projecting elevation has stepped corners to the ground and first floors, with vertical hung clay tiles to the attic level of the gable. Overhanging eaves are supported on painted timber brackets at the corners. A raised chimney breast terminates in a fluted stack with a gablet on exposed rafter-ends. A three-bay flat-roofed arcaded veranda to the east has painted timber posts with vertical timber boarding above, along with a painted brick recess.

Internally, numerous Arts and Crafts details have been carefully integrated throughout, contributing significantly to the architectural quality of the building. Although there has been some internal modification to the layout, the original plan form remains intact.

The first occupant of the house was Robert McCurdy, manager of Robert McCurdy & Co., linen collar and cuff manufacturers with premises on Library Street. The 1911 census building return described the house as a first-class dwelling consisting of 20 rooms with two sheds as its sole outbuildings. On completion, the rateable value was set at £125. By the 1930s, Robert McCurdy had been succeeded by Isaac Black, a local furniture dealer. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the value was slightly reduced to £122, and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72) it had been further reduced to £120. By the 1950s the house was occupied by a Mr. J. W. Martin. The house had been acquired by the adjoining St. Patrick's Secondary School by at least 1985 — the school having been built in 1952–55 to designs by McLean & Forte and incorporating both Barnageeha house and this property. Tieve Tara was listed in 1987. It was subsequently used by the school as an administration block until 1996, when it was acquired by the Diocese of Down and Connor and converted back to residential use for priests employed as teachers at St. Patrick's Secondary School. The conversion, completed in 1997, included restoration of the original roof and windows, reorganisation of the floorplan, and construction of the single-storey extension to the west.

The grounds feature mature hedge boundary planting to the north, south, and east, and a red brick buttressed boundary wall to the west with a square-headed opening fitted with a timber sheeted entrance door. A tarmac tree-lined driveway leads from the east to parking at the rear. Extensive lawns with mature trees lie to the east and west. The mature planting screens the house from Somerton Road, though it is visible in glimpses and adds considerable character to the area. The property lies within a conservation area.