549 Ormeau Road, Belfast

549 Ormeau Road, Belfast

A two-storey terraced house with attic, built in 1887 as part of Rosetta Terrace, a row of nine dwellings constructed on the upper Ormeau Road in the rapidly expanding residential suburbs south of Belfast's city centre, approximately 4 kilometres away.

The house is rectangular in plan with a two-storey return wing, a small front garden separated from the pavement by hedge and gate, and an enclosed rear yard. The ground floor is rendered with smooth painted finish, whilst the first floor and return are constructed of red clay brick laid in Flemish bond. The rendered gable of the return and rear yard elevations remain unpainted. The main roof is covered with natural Bangor Blue slates.

The front elevation displays considerable Victorian architectural detail. The ground floor features smooth painted render and red clay brick with two decorative rows of blue brick set beneath an ornamental brick cornice. An original four-panelled door sits to the right, set beneath a hood supported on ornate brackets. To the left is a canted bay containing 1/1 top-hung windows with cast iron frames. A plaster string course separates the ground and first floors. The first floor contains two 1/1 windows aligned with the bay below. A pitched roof dormer with replacement top-hung window and fixed semi-circular light above sits on the wall head, with a Velux-type roof-light to its right. A large clay brick chimney stack, detailed to match the front elevation, sits on the ridge to the left.

The side elevations abut Nos. 547 and 551 Ormeau Road respectively. The rear elevation, viewed from the communal lane, shows a lower two-storey return to the left with a 1/1 top-hung window on the first floor right and a smaller similar window to the left. The return's rear gable is unpainted render with brick side walls, painted on the north side. A red clay brick chimney sits on the return's ridge. A single-storey lean-to shed is attached to the return's gable. The internal yard is separated from an outer yard by a tall brick wall with clay copings; the outer yard opens to the rear lane through modern timber gates. An original clay-tiled path in chequerboard pattern leads to two concrete steps at the front door. UPVC gutters, down pipes and Velux-type roof-lights have been added to the rear roof slope.

The terrace was developed in two phases: the four southernmost dwellings (now Nos. 557–563) were completed in 1886, whilst Nos. 547–555, including No. 549, were finished in 1887. The developer was H. Scott, a pawnbroker listed in contemporary directories with premises at 117 Shankill Road, who occupied No. 557 and is noted as the immediate lessor in earliest valuations. The architect is not known. Contemporary letting advertisements describe the 1886 properties as "large houses" with three reception rooms, five bedrooms, hot and cold water and "all modern improvements", whilst those of 1887 advertised "two reception rooms on ground floor" and six bedrooms.

From directories, valuation books and census records, the occupancy of No. 549 is documented from approximately 1889 onwards. Early residents included Mrs. Lepper (c. 1889–96), F. Porter of Ferumite Company (c. 1896–99), John McMenamin (c. 1899–1900) and Elizabeth McDonnell (c. 1900–01). The 1901 census records Mr. White residing there with granddaughter Mary Moore and maid Ellen Maslin. Later occupants included C. Macauley of the linen business (c. 1902–10), John Rusk, a fancy linen manufacturer (c. 1910–20, recorded in the 1911 census as living with wife Elizabeth in a second-class dwelling of nine rooms), James C. May, a warehouseman (c. 1920–24, 1944–48), Dr. John W. Nesbitt (c. 1942–44, 1948–63), Wing-Commander Culmer (c. 1963–72), Mrs. Mary Killen (c. 1973–90) and Kathleen B. Wallace (c. 1991).

The house possesses group value with the other eight properties in the listed terrace (Nos. 547–563 Ormeau Road) and retains considerable Victorian architectural interest despite some alterations, notably the replacement of original windows with top-hung uPVC units. The terrace was listed in 1986. The listing extends to the house and yard walling.