Barnett's Stableyard, NW of Malone House, Upper Malone Road, Belfast

Barnett's Stableyard

An early 19th-century stableyard set within Barnett's Demesne to the northwest of Malone House, possibly containing part of the late 17th-century 'second' Malone House. The complex consists of a group of separate buildings arranged around an enclosed courtyard bounded by a red brick wall.

The courtyard is enclosed by a two-storey house positioned at the northeast corner and a garage (former stableblock) at the northwest corner, both aligned northeast-southwest and separated by an open passage at ground floor level, with the first floor of the garage overhanging above. A small single-storey former kitchen occupies the northwest corner. A single-storey barn aligned northwest-southeast encloses the courtyard to the west. The courtyard wall is constructed in red brick laid in English garden wall bond with brick buttresses to the southwest section. Access to the courtyard is provided by cast-iron gates at the north and south ends—the northern gate is set in the opening between the house and garage, while the southern gate breaks the courtyard wall directly opposite. The courtyard is finished in gravel with concrete paving slabs at the garage threshold and contains a small chemical store at the southwest corner and an air raid shelter in the southeast corner.

The House

Probably the earliest surviving structure, the two-storey, three-bay house at the northeast corner may be part of or sited on the same location as the late 17th-century buildings of the second Malone House. It has a pitched natural slate roof with heavy random coursed slates to the rear pitch, a later small grey brick chimney to the left gable and another to the rear pitch set between the left and centre bays. An advanced eaves course supports half-round cast-iron rainwater goods. A raised brick skew is set between the party wall of the house and garage. The walls are rendered and painted. All windows are 1/1 timber exposed box sliding sashes with horns and painted cills, with all but the dormers boarded over.

The principal northwest elevation has a left bay with a wall head dormer with plainly detailed timber bargeboards and blank cheeks, below which are two windows at ground floor. The centre bay has a similarly detailed wall head dormer with a timber-sheeted door aligned below and a window to its left. The right bay has two windows to ground floor, the left being landscape-format. The left gable has a later windbreak porch with door opening sheeted over, with a window to its right.

The courtyard southeast elevation has a blank left bay with external stairs running across its face. The centre bay has a wall head dormer detailed as before with a window aligned below. The right bay has a window to first floor and is abutted at ground floor by a single-storey extension with a flat roof, cement rendered and painted walls, and windows to both southeast and southwest faces. The right gable is abutted by the oversailing first floor of the garage block. Beneath the courtyard opening, the right gable has a timber top-opening casement window with obscured glass to the left, with three doors to its right—the central door is tongue-and-groove sheeted while the others are plain timber sheeted. The ceiling of the opening has a tongue-and-groove sheeted loft lobby entrance.

The Garage

An early 20th-century two-storey, single-bay block at the northwest corner of the courtyard, not shown on the 1904 Ordnance Survey map. It has a pitched natural slate roof with advanced eaves course and cast-iron rainwater goods. The walls are rendered and painted. The northwest elevation has a sealed entrance set slightly right of centre with a window to its right; the left gable is blank. The main southeast courtyard elevation features a canopy with corrugated metal roof between each floor, supported by four cast-iron beams tied into the wall and supported in turn by two circular-section cast-iron columns with octagonal bases and mould heads. Ground floor has four tongue-and-groove sheeted sliding doors, the inner two with four fixed lights and external grilles. The first floor is accessed by an external timber stair running across the left bay elevation of the house, leading to a timber door on the oversailing floor. To its left are two dormers with flat roofs, cast-iron rainwater goods and blank cheeks, each front cheek containing three fixed lights with external grilles. The right gable has two timber casement windows to first floor, the left being larger, and is slightly abutted by the kitchen.

The Kitchen

A small single-storey former stable boy's kitchen abutting the right gable of the barn and enclosing the northwest corner of the courtyard. It has a pitched natural slate roof with ridge aligned northeast-southwest and an advanced chimneybreast to the left gable rising above the eaves level of the barn. The walls are cement rendered and painted. The courtyard southwest elevation has a timber 2/2 casement window with painted stone cill and external metal grille set to the left, with a timber 2/2 panelled door to its right (upper panels sheeted over). The left gable is completely abutted by the barn. The rear elevation is blank and the right gable has a blocked up doorway.

The Barn

An early building, possibly part of the late 17th-century buildings. A single-storey structure aligned northwest-southeast with a pitched corrugated metal roof and advanced eaves course supporting half-round cast-iron rainwater goods. The walls are constructed in brick, cement rendered and painted. The courtyard southwest elevation has a double-leaf tongue-and-groove sheeted door set slightly left of centre, with a window opening to its right that breaks the eaves course and has a painted concrete cill containing a 2/2 fixed timber window with external metal grille. The left gable and rear elevation are blank; the right gable is abutted by the kitchen block.