17 College Gardens, Belfast

17 College Gardens, Belfast

A mid-terrace, three-storey townhouse with attic, built in 1877 in red brick, architect unknown. The house forms part of a symmetrical block of four properties (Nos 15, 16, 17 and 18 College Gardens), where Nos 15 and 18 are mirrored gable-ended properties flanking the narrower Nos 16 and 17 between them. Located midway along College Gardens, a tree-lined street of similarly scaled townhouses running from Malone Road to Lisburn Road, the property sits within the Queens Conservation Area. The buildings face south and overlook the grounds of Methodist College. The house has recently been restored to a single family dwelling, though the presence of a rear external metal escape stair suggests it was formerly converted into flats.

The roof is natural slate with black clay ridge tiles. A flat-roofed dormer with glazed cheeks sits above both front pitches. Three chimneys rise from the building: one centred on the main ridge, now rebuilt in modern red brick with several yellow clay pots; one centred on the gable of the rear return, rendered with no cap or pots; and a third rising from the eaves at the north elevation with replacement brick above gutter level.

The south-facing front elevation features projecting moulded eaves on curved brackets alternating with pitched square motifs, set on a projecting string course with a continuous band of dentils below. The south elevation of walls is red brick in Flemish bond with unpainted stucco dressings. The rainwater goods comprise an ogee profile cast metal gutter with square section cast metal rainwater pipes to the main roof and uPVC gutter and pipes to the canted bay.

The front elevation is asymmetrical, with the entrance positioned to the right at ground floor level and a stuccoed canted bay containing three windows to the left at ground floor. Three equally spaced windows occupy the first and second floors, diminishing in height from ground to second floor level, all with segmental heads. A narrow flat-roofed dormer sits at attic level, offset to the left above the eaves cornice. 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 entrance comprises 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. The door is surrounded by an elaborate stucco surround featuring roll-edged reveals, foliated scrolled console brackets, a moulded edge to the hood, and a floral stone roundel between the console brackets with plain spandrels. The first and second floor levels are predominantly red brick with projecting moulded stucco surrounds and cills. No 17 differs from the remainder of the terrace in that its rendered and stone dressings are unpainted and the first floor windows lack hoods. Windows throughout are timber-framed single glazed sliding sashes with 1/1 panes on the south elevation and 2/2 panes on the north elevation, unless otherwise stated.

A three-storey return is built at half-landing level to the rear and north elevation. This return is adjoined to the same feature at No 16 to form a wide gable. The return is abutted by a one-storey hipped-roofed appendage at the gable end. The rear yard is spanned by a metal escape stair between the return and No 18 College Gardens. The north elevation, surveyed from Elmwood Mews, shows red brick walling in English Garden Wall bond, detailed more simply than the front elevation, with projecting brick eaves courses, soldier-coursed brick headers and square-cut stone cills, all unpainted. The return's north elevation features a projecting timber bargeboard with exposed curved bracket at the purlin end and sheeted timber soffit, all painted. One window occupies the second floor, offset to the right, and two windows the first floor. The left-hand first floor window has 1/1 panes with translucent glass and coloured glass margin panes. The ground floor appendage, narrower in plan than the return and having a hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, painted timber eaves board and red brick walling in stretcher bond (suggesting later construction), features a single timber sliding sash window with 1/1 panes, painted reveals and soldier-coursed headers on its north face. The west face of the return, overlooking the yard and abutting No 18 College Gardens, matches the rear of the main building with brick walling, soldier-coursed headers and square-cut stone cills. A projecting brick eaves supports a half-round gutter with what appears to be a cast iron rainwater pipe. Openings are informally arranged; at second floor, original timber-framed sliding sashes with 2/2 panes appear to be retained. The west face of the ground floor appendage has a single opening with a precast concrete lintel.

The building is rectangular on plan, aligned east-west parallel to the road. The front boundary is marked by low red brick walling with chamfered edges to stone coping and hedging above. A lawn and planting occupy the front garden, with hedging along the boundary with No 16 and modern metal fencing along the boundary with No 18. A copper beech tree stands at the south-west corner. A wrought iron gate opens from Elmwood Avenue onto a concrete-surfaced path with two bull-nosed stone steps at the entrance, flanked by painted dwarf walls with open balustrades between square end piers, all having cambered caps, unpainted. A cast iron boot-scraper, thought to be original, sits on the top step.

The rear yard is bounded by a variegated brownish-red brick wall in English Garden Wall bond with a rounded terracotta cap, stepping in height where a single-storey lean-to outhouse abuts the yard side. A sheeted timber door leads from the yard to Elmwood Mews at the right side, and evidence of a former opening to the left, now filled with modern red brick, suggests a former coal delivery opening.