1-5 Malone Place, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT12 5FD

1-5 Malone Place, Belfast

A relatively small two-storey rendered house dating from approximately 1837–43, with a two-storey rear return and plain single-storey projection to the north from around 1843–49. The building was much altered in 1893 with the addition of a large projecting shop front. The property occupies the east end of the short terraced block of Malone Place, fronting onto the southern end of Sandy Row.

The front elevation faces east and is asymmetrical. At ground floor level, the entire main building is covered by a large projecting rendered shop front, set at an angle and projecting further towards its left-hand (south) edge, culminating at the south-east corner in a bevel. The shop front contains a recessed right-of-centre doorway (now blocked, formerly providing access to a bookmakers shop within the northern projection), a large window to the left (now boarded over), and a much smaller high-level window to the right (now blocked). Above these is a simple timber frieze for the shop sign, with parts of the facing fallen away, topped by a simple moulded cornice course and a flat roof. The first floor contains three original window openings, each with a simple moulded surround and modern replacement timber frames with top-hung over fixed-pane windows. The rest of the first floor is finished in plain painted render with simple pilasters to the wall edges and a bracketed eaves course. The render may have been added with the shop front in 1893, though the pilasters suggest it may be original; comparable pilasters appeared on now-demolished mid-19th-century houses formerly on this site.

The east elevation of the northern projection is blank, with its single centrally positioned window now blocked (only the sill remains).

The south elevation facing into Malone Place proper comprises the gable of the main building (to the right) and the south face of the two-storey return. The return is slightly shorter than the main building with a partly hipped roof and merges with the rest of the Malone Place terrace to the west. It may date slightly later than the rest of the building, possibly from around 1843–49 when most Malone Place houses were constructed. At ground floor level of the return's south face, a flat-arched vehicle doorway is set within an elliptical arched recess and contains a timber-sheeted double door. To its right are a window and doorway (both boarded up). The first floor originally had two window openings, now blocked. This face is finished in painted render.

The entire ground floor level of the south gable of the main building is covered by the shop front, with a low doorway to the left, a large square window in the centre, a taller doorway to the right leading into the shop, and a narrow window to the far right—all boarded. Much of the rendered upper portion of the gable is now covered by a large billboard with no openings at attic level, though internal evidence suggests there was originally at least one small window opening here.

Much of the north gable of the main building is covered by the large single-storey projection, which has a skewed blank rendered north face and single-pitch roof. The remainder of the north gable is rendered with outlines of two small square window openings at attic level (both blocked). The rear elevation appears to be wholly in brick with a lean-to section at ground floor, covered with corrugated iron. This lean-to merges with the rear of the northern projection (whose rear face extends beyond that of the main building) and contains several small blocked-up window openings. The first floor of the main building has a blocked-up window opening. The lean-to is constructed in more modern-looking red-orange brick, suggesting it is not original. Internal evidence shows the vehicle entrance passes through the return, with a blocked-up window and doorway to its left at ground floor. The rear elevation of the return could not be fully inspected.

The roof of the main building and return are both slated; the projection is covered in corrugated iron. The return roof is hipped to the east side and does not merge with the main building roof, further suggesting the return was added later. Each gable of the main building has a rendered chimneystack with a projecting cornice-like stringcourse; a similar (though only partly rendered) stack stands at the east end of the return roof. No chimney pots are present. A small cast iron skylight is positioned to the west (rear) side of the main building roof. Metal rainwater goods are fitted.

As of January 2007, the original building had been substantially dismantled and re-erected in 2004. The front east-facing elevation had the shop front removed, with new window openings and a door inserted at ground floor. New openings have simple moulded surrounds matching the existing first-floor fenestration. All windows are new sliding sash windows (two over two). The new front door is a painted timber six-panel type with a simple rectangular fanlight. The finish is now plain painted render.

The gable elevation was remodelled with the original shop front removed and new windows installed. Ground and first floors have two moulded window openings each, matching the front elevation. The attic has two narrower round-headed plain openings. All windows are sliding sash. The finish is plain painted render.

The return has two first-floor windows matching the originals, now with new sliding sash windows. The right-hand side at ground floor has a simple painted timber four-panelled entrance door with a small plain rectangular fanlight, with a sliding sash window immediately to its left. On the left-hand side of the ground floor of the return's south face is a flat-arched vehicle doorway, now bricked up, containing two low book-matched entrance doors with simple rectangular fanlights. The finish is fair-faced brick matching the rest of the Malone Place terrace.