16 College Gardens, Belfast

16 College Gardens is a mid-terrace, three-storey townhouse with attic, built in 1877 from red brick in the late Victorian period. The architect is unknown. The house forms part of a block of four similar properties (Nos. 15, 17 and 18) that are largely symmetrical in composition, with gable-end properties flanking two narrower mid-terrace houses. The street, College Gardens, is tree-lined and runs between Malone Road and Lisburn Road. The building sits within the Queens Conservation Area and faces south, overlooking the grounds of Methodist College.

The structure has a natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and later flat-roofed dormers to both front and rear pitches, clad in PVC membrane. Two chimneys are present: one shared with No. 15, now rendered in modern red brick with yellow clay pots; and one centred on the gable of the rear return, rendered without a cap or pots. The front elevation features projecting moulded eaves on curved brackets that alternate with pitched square motifs, set on a projecting string course with a continuous band of dentils below. The rear eaves are simpler, comprising two courses of projecting brick.

The main walls are red brick in Flemish bond with stucco dressings on the south elevation and English Garden Wall bond on the north. Rainwater goods include an ogee-profile cast metal gutter to the main roof and uPVC gutters and downpipes elsewhere. Windows are predominantly timber-framed single-glazed sliding sashes with either 1/1 or 2/2 panes.

The front elevation is asymmetrical, with the entrance to the left (west) at ground floor and a stuccoed canted bay containing three windows to the right (east) at ground floor. Three equally spaced windows are positioned at first and second floors, with a wide flat-roofed dormer placed centrally above the eaves cornice at attic level. All windows are segmental-headed and diminish in height from ground to second floor. A painted render base plinth with moulded top runs across the front. The ground-floor bay has stop-chamfered heads and jambs to its windows, with heavy bull-nosed cills set within reveals, a decorative string course above the windows, and a projecting moulded cornice on block modillions.

The original entrance is a square-headed timber-framed door with two full-height arched panels with raised fields and bolection moulding, and a plain-glass segmental arched over-light. It is set within an elaborate stucco surround featuring roll-edged reveals, foliated scrolled console brackets, a moulded edge to the hood, a floral stone roundel between the brackets, and plain spandrels, all painted. This entrance is now fronted by half-glazed double storm doors. First-floor windows have similar hoods with smaller brackets and simple fluting detail. The walls above ground floor are predominantly red brick, with projecting moulded stucco surrounds and cills at first and second floor windows, painted. Decorative foliated stucco detail appears above the surrounds to the second floor window heads.

A three-storey return is built at half-landing level to the rear (north), adjoined to the same at No. 17 to form a wide gable. This return features a slightly advanced three-storey hipped-roof projection with two windows each to first and second floors, and a single window to ground floor, all sliding sashes with 1/1 panes. A uPVC door is present at basement level. The return is constructed in red brick with English Garden Wall bond, painted up to the underside of the second floor cills. Detailing is simpler than the front elevation, with projecting brick eaves courses, soldier-coursed brick headers, and square-edged painted cills. A flat-roofed dormer with a modern casement window serves the attic of the main building. The north elevation of the return has one offset window to the second floor.

A later two-storey flat-roofed extension abuts the return to the north, described as being of little historic interest. The east face of the return overlooks a yard and matches the rear of the main building, with brick walling painted white, soldier-coursed headers, and square-cut stone cills. Boxed timber eaves support a half-round uPVC gutter. Window arrangements on this elevation are informal, with openings comprising timber-framed sliding sashes with varying pane configurations (6/6, 2/2, 4/4, and 6/6 panes) and some modern uPVC top-hung casement windows. First and second floor uPVC windows appear to be within original openings.

The building is rectangular on plan and aligned east-west parallel to the road. The boundary at the front has been removed to provide an off-street parking area with precast concrete paving slabs. Hedging marks the boundaries with adjoining properties Nos. 15 and 17. The front door is accessed via two steps, one stone with a bull-nosed edge and one concrete, flanked by painted dwarf walls. A cast-iron boot-scraper, thought to be original, sits on the top step.

Six doorbells at the entrance indicate that the building has been subdivided into apartments. A two-storey red brick extension aligns the rear boundary and is joined by a lower red brick wall with a wide opening comprising sheeted timber folding doors, painted, with a flat roof behind.