Holly House, 74 Mosside Road, Dunmurry, County Antrim, BT17 9HH

Holly House is a two-storey, multi-bay Georgian-style dwelling erected around 1870, possibly designed by architect John MacHenry, who also resided there with his family.

The building sits at the end of Mosside Road, off Queensway, on the east side of the main Belfast to Lisburn carriageway. Its plan form is L-shaped, with a subservient two-storey block abutting the rear. The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged, comprising three bays to the left with a single projecting bay to the right hand side. The entrance porch, with channelled walling rising to entablature, is located at the re-entrant of the projected bay. The east face of the projected bay is symmetrically arranged with paired ground and first floor windows. The south elevation is symmetrically arranged with two ground floor windows with matching first floor windows directly over. The rear elevation is largely abutted by the pitched-roofed subservient block, which extends beyond the north elevation at a lower eaves level. The south gabled face of the subservient block is blank. The west face comprises various openings matching the principal building, with a two-storey return located right of centre. The north-facing gable is symmetrically arranged with a single centrally located ground and first floor window.

The building features ruled-and-lined rendered walling with a continuous projected cill course to ground and first floor, and a moulded plinth course. Hipped natural slate roofing with clay ridge tiles sits above box eaves with timber fascia board and barge boards to the rear block. Smooth rendered chimneys with projected plinth and cornice detailing rise from the roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods with ogee moulded gutters and circular downpipes complete the external detailing. Windows are 6/6 timber sliding sash with horns. The principal entrance comprises a six-panelled timber door with bolection mouldings and a segmental arched over-light, protected by a single-storey flat-roofed porch. A secondary entrance on the east elevation of the subservient block features a timber-framed slated lean-to canopy.

John MacHenry was a civil engineer and agent to the Hertford estates. He designed Lisburn's Orange Hall in 1870 and is thought to have been supervising architect for Sir Richard Wallace's Lisburn residence, Castle House. He also designed Lisburn courthouse, now demolished. A building already occupied the site in the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832-3. However, Griffith's Valuation (1856-64) describes only outoffices on the plot, valued at £1, situated on an eight-acre parcel occupied by John MacHenry. Map evidence and field observation suggest the structures were replaced, extended and remodelled around 1870, possibly under MacHenry's own design. MacHenry and his wife Elizabeth raised eight children at the house, all of whom survived to adulthood. The name 'Holly House' first appears in available original source material in 1895, in reference to the weddings of his daughters Sarah and Lily. By the 1901 census, MacHenry, then aged 70, described himself as a farmer, with younger children still resident. He died in 1904, leaving the house to his wife Elizabeth, who continued to live there with three of their children until her death in 1915. The house was then occupied by the younger John MacHenry, also a farmer, until 1940.

Originally a roadside dwelling, the building is now self-contained following installation of the McKinstry Road by-pass running north-west of the site. The site is accessed via modern rendered piers with mild-steel gates. A short driveway leads to the front entrance, beyond which lie well-maintained gardens. The site is primarily bounded by trees and hedgerows, which largely screen the house from public view. However, the well-proportioned exterior has lost some character through recent alterations. The windows and roof slates were replaced with inappropriate materials around 2015. A substantial two-storey flat-roofed extension was also added around 2015, which detracts from the quality of the setting. These changes mean the building does not meet the test for listing.