31 Bloomfield Road, Belfast

31 Bloomfield Road is a good example of a three-storey semi-detached house in Arts and Crafts style, built in 1900 and most likely designed by architect William J. Moore. The house forms part of a row of three pairs of semi-detached houses on the south side of Bloomfield Road and has considerable group value with its neighbours.

The building is constructed in redbrick laid in a variation between English-garden bond and Scottish bond (four courses of stretchers to one of headers), with a projecting plinth course. The principal front elevation faces north and features a distinctive three-storey gabled bay with mock timber framing applied to the 2nd storey. This bay is canted and three-sided for two storeys, supporting a gabled third storey above. The elevation is embellished with timber brackets, terracotta mouldings and a terracotta plaque to the centre of each bay, as well as a continuous painted sill course and flush painted lintel course. Window openings to the principal elevations are square-headed with stop-chamfer jambs to the brick openings; most have been replaced with 1/1 top-hung uPVC casement windows. A two-storey single bay gabled projection to the east elevation contains a segmental-headed door opening facing north, with a replacement timber panelled door and fanlight approached by a single nosed step. The east elevation has painted sills, flush painted lintels and terracotta mouldings, with a terracotta plaque over the main doorcase. The rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey return rendered in wet dash with replacement top-hung uPVC casement windows.

The roof is pitched with natural slate covering and features roll top red-clay ridge tiles, red-clay knob finials and a shared redbrick chimneystack with corbelled coping. All gables have timber barge boards. The house has half-round uPVC guttering and circular uPVC downpipes throughout. The front yard is divided into a paved pathway and a modest landscaped garden enclosed by a redbrick dwarf wall. Directly to the rear is an alleyway separating the dwelling from a row of three-storey terraced houses.

The house was first recorded as vacant in 1900 when it was noted that nos 21–31 were owned by Francis Quinn of Francis Quinn & Sons and the Beechpark Estate Company. The first occupant was William Anderson, a local pawnbroker, but by 1911 the house had passed to James W. Chalmers, an insurance surveyor. The 1911 census described Chalmers's house as a 1st class dwelling consisting of 11 rooms. By 1935, ownership had passed to Joseph McMaster, who continued to own the property until the 1970s. The value of the property was recorded at £16 in 1930, rising to £24 by 1935 and £28 by 1972.

William J. Moore (c. 1873–1921) was a Belfast-based architect who established a private practice in Ann Street by 1896. Numbers 21–31 Bloomfield Road were among the earliest domestic buildings completed during his years in independent practice. Moore's style derived from the work of Scottish architect Norman Shaw, who made a significant break from the established traditions of using either classical or gothic forms and was instrumental as one of the stepping stones for the beginning of the modern Arts and Crafts movement.

The exterior has retained most of its character, style and proportions. In 1988, renovations to the dwelling included replacement of the windows, rebuilding of the chimney stack, repointing of the exterior brickwork and reslating the roof in natural slate. The house continues to be used as a domestic building.