1 Wallace Avenue, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT27 4AA

1 Wallace Avenue is a detached three-bay two-storey house built around 1910, located on the north side of Wallace Avenue in Lisburn. Constructed in redbrick with rendered pebbledash walling and an L-shaped plan, it was originally built as the teacher's residence for Brownlee Memorial Primary School, designed by James Hunter, part-time assistant surveyor for the Lisburn district.

The house features a pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and three redbrick chimneystacks rising from the gables. Cast-iron guttering is fitted to a timber fascia with sheeted timber eaves, though downpipes have been replaced in plastic. The ground floor is constructed of redbrick laid in English garden wall bond with a projecting plinth course, topped by a moulded redbrick drip course. Above this, pebbledash rendered walling extends to the first floor.

The front elevation presents three bays with square-headed window openings fitted with stone sills and original 6/1 timber sash windows. Two wall-head dormers with terracotta finials and moulded timber bargeboards occupy the roof line. The easternmost bay at ground floor contains a three-sided bay window with a moulded brick cornice. The central entrance features a round-headed door opening with moulded brick hood moulding and decorative terracotta label stops, containing a timber-frame tripartite doorcase with replacement timber panelled door and leaded Art Nouveau fanlight.

The west elevation includes a single window opening to the gable and a three-sided bay window at ground level of the rear return, which contains paired window openings and a hipped natural slate roof. The rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey gable-ended return with pebbledash rendered walling to both floors and various square-headed window openings with single-pane timber sash windows. The east gable displays irregularly placed window openings.

The property sits within its own plot on the north side of Wallace Avenue, enclosed by a redbrick front wall. A modern flat-roofed garage structure stands to the east.

Historically, Wallace Avenue was laid out between 1900 and 1911 on the landscaped gardens of Castle House, formerly the residence of Sir Richard Wallace. The Brownlees were a prosperous family with grain mill interests at Bridge Street, long connected with Railway Street Presbyterian Church from its foundation in 1860. Miss Isabella Brownlee purchased the site for the teacher's residence before her death in 1909, leaving a substantial bequest to the church. Using this bequest and assistance from the National Board, a new school was built and equipped with the residence, at a total cost of approximately £7,000. The builder was R. Pinkerton of Bachelor's Walk. The school and residence opened in August 1913. The first principal, Dr Lamont, required no enlargement, but when Mr Boyd and his family arrived in 1919, significant structural additions were necessary at a cost exceeding the original building, due to increased construction expenses in the intervening period. In 1931, the house and school transferred from direct control of Railway Street Church to the Education Authority. The school building remains in use as Brownlee Primary School, whilst the residence currently stands empty and disused.