Holy Family Pastoral Centre, 222 Limestone Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 3AP

Holy Family Pastoral Centre is a three-bay, two-storey Victorian red brick end-terraced former house with attic, built around 1868 on Limestone Road, Belfast, in the townland of Town Parks. The architect is unknown. The house was originally the most substantial dwelling in a row of four, originally called Newington Terrace, and was built on land leased by Phillip Wright, a local coal merchant who held business premises at Belfast's Coal Exchange at Queen's Quay and had formerly resided on the Shankill Road. Wright took up residence here himself and the property was valued at £57 at its first inclusion in the Annual Revisions in 1868, slightly higher than the neighbouring houses at numbers 216 to 220, which were each valued at £47. The terrace is notable as one of the earliest Victorian-style terraces in the area, developed along what had been renamed Limestone Road around 1865, following broader residential expansion along the route in the 1860s and 1870s alongside terraces on Atlantic Avenue, Duncairn Gardens and Newington Avenue.

The road's name reflects its history as the route of a gravity-powered rail line, known as the Cave Hill Tramway, which transported limestone from a quarry on the southern face of Cave Hill in the townland of Ballyaghagan down to Belfast's docklands. The proposed line was first shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832 to 1833, and was recorded as the Cave Hill Tramway on the second edition map of 1858, by which point few buildings had yet been constructed along the route.

Phillip Wright resided at No. 222 until his death in 1896. The 1901 census described the house as a first-class dwelling containing 15 rooms, with three stables, a coach house and a store among its outbuildings to the rear. After Wright's death, the house passed to John Taggart, a local draper, who remained there until his death in 1915. A Mr. James Dolan then took possession and remained until 1940, by which time the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (covering 1936 to 1957) had reduced the assessed value to £35. In 1967 the house was purchased by Holy Family Parish and converted into a convent for the Little Sisters of the Assumption. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956 to 1972) the total rateable value stood at £128. The Little Sisters of the Assumption vacated the building in 1980, and it was subsequently converted into a parish social centre, which opened in May 1991 providing facilities for adult education and group meetings. This conversion included the reslating of the roof and the installation of new dormer windows. The building was listed in 1987. Substantial fire and flood damage occurred around 1987, resulting in the loss of original fabric to the rear of the house.

The building has a rectangular plan form facing north-east, with a two-storey red brick return attached to the centre of the south-west elevation, which is in turn abutted by a later rectangular extension to the rear. The roof is pitched natural slate with black clay roll-top ridge tiles. Cast iron ogee guttering discharges to circular section downpipes. Two dormer windows appear on both the north-east and south-west elevations, with timber bargeboards featuring round lobes at eaves level and semi-circular headed side-opening casement windows. The chimney to the south-east is a rectangular two-stage red brick stack with replacement terracotta pots and two separate yellow brick string courses to each stage; there is no chimney to the north-west.

Windows are generally tripartite, with a central window flanked by narrower side lights set within red brick segmental arch openings with bevelled brick and painted smooth rendered mullions and springers. They are typically timber double-hung two-over-two pane sashes with window horns and horizontal glazing bars. Walling is Flemish bond red brick with painted smooth render toothed quoins.

The principal elevation faces north-east and is three bays wide over two storeys, with two attic dormers set on a chamfered red brick plinth course. The central doorcase is flanked to the west by a projecting semi-circular flat-roofed single-storey bay window, and to the east by a tripartite window. The semi-circular bay has three double-hung sash windows with curved glass and horizontal glazing bars, a continuous painted sill course, Flemish bond red brick walling, and painted smooth render above window head level with a deep moulded projecting cornice to the parapet. This projecting cornice extends along the facade to the east, above the door, and meets a raised brick band three courses high above the ground floor windows to the east. The facade has painted smooth render quoins to the north-west corner.

Steps and a path lead from the footpath to the central doorcase, which has a segmental arch opening with fanlight, sidelights and a square-headed four-panelled double-leaf painted timber door with brass door knob to one leaf and a replacement letterbox to the other. The doorway has a moulded plaster surround surmounted by a cornice hood set on scrolled console brackets with applied foliate detail, a keystone to the centre and decorative stucco moulding to the spandrels. A continuous string course runs at sill level to the first floor windows, with single tripartite windows flanking a central semi-circular arched window above the entrance. These arches are formed in gauged brick soldier course with a bevelled reveal. Above the first floor windows, three raised courses of red brick walling support a sawtooth double eaves course.

The south-eastern elevation is where the building adjoins the terrace, which extends south-east along Limestone Road. The neighbouring houses at numbers 216, 218 and 220 have been converted into a single block of apartments now called Lisieux House.

The south-western elevation has a single bay to the left-hand side with square-headed openings to ground and first floor level formed in brick soldier courses and a wall-head dormer at attic level with a round-arched window. The walls are Flemish bond red brick, painted up to mid-ground floor level. The two-storey red brick return has one original sliding sash window at first floor level; all other windows in this return are replacement timber with painted concrete lintels, and there is a square-headed opening for a modern door with plain cement render surround. The return is abutted by a later rectangular block to the west, in stretcher bond red brick with a duo-pitched cement fibre roof, uPVC gutters and downpipe and square-headed doors, containing an escape stair. A single-storey flat-roofed modern extension with polycarbonate domed rooflights encloses the yard on the right-hand side, beyond which sits a square-headed window at first floor and a wall-head dormer matching the left-hand side.

The north-western elevation is largely obscured by the brown brick Holy Family Youth Centre to the west, which is set back from the building by one bay. There is a single square-headed window opening to the ground floor with a painted concrete lintel and top-opening two-pane casement, smooth plaster quoins to the north-west corner of the facade, and a raised eaves course to the gable.

No. 222 is set back from Limestone Road on a raised site with a modest front garden laid to lawn with mature shrubs and hedging, and an enclosed yard to the rear. The front garden is bounded to the east and west by low red brick walling with a rendered dwarf retaining wall to the front, lined to resemble ashlar stone, returned to contain the first flight of steps and topped by metal railings set on bevelled ashlar sandstone coping. A mild steel pedestrian gate with simple flattened finials, a horizontal rail and central scrollwork stands on L-iron posts. The principal entrance is approached by a short flight of steps with a paved path and flanking metal handrails leading to the central doorcase. No. 222 retains its original boundary wall, which adds further interest to the setting. The building shares group value with the adjoining houses at numbers 216 to 220 Limestone Road, with the entire row slightly elevated above the street.

Internally, despite fire damage, the original plan form and a substantial amount of original fabric have survived. Overall the building retains good architectural detailing and its original character, style and proportions.