Belfast home designed by Mater Hospital architect goes on market for £1.7m
A Six-bedroom detached home designed at the end of the 19th century by one of Belfast’s most renowned architects has just come on the market to give home buyers with deep pockets a chance to live in a unique piece of history.
Priced at a cool £1.7m, the secluded south Belfast property was the work of William Fennell, who found fame as the architect of the Mater Hospital in the north of the city.
Not only will your money buy six bedrooms stretched over three floors of period accommodation, you’ll also get a sun room to take in the mature gardens, a tree-lined avenue accessed by a pillared entrance, plus the kudos of living in one of Belfast’s most desirable locations at Malone Park.
The architect of the house was one of the most in-demand and prolific of the era, and it bears all the hallmarks of his work during the period.
Dating from 1901, Nephin at 51 Malone Park was built at the height of Fennell’s career.
Originally from Canada, where his father was stationed with the Royal Engineers, Fennell took up his career in architecture when the family moved back to Belfast.
One of his first notable achievements was the construction of Wakefield Town Hall in Yorkshire in 1877, but examples of his work can be found all over Northern Ireland.
In 1884 he was responsible for the Gate Lodge at Antrim Castle, and in 1889 his design led to the construction of All Saints Church in University Street, Belfast.
By 1899 he had designed Cushendall Presbyterian Church, and throughout his career he was a prolific competitor, entering architecture competitions across Ireland and Britain. His design for the Water Commissioner’s Tower in Royal Avenue was a competition winner, but probably his most famous work came in 1894 when he entered a competition to design a new hospital for the city.
That resulted in the original Mater Infirmorum, and of the competition entry, judges said his design was “so far in advance of the other entries that it was unnecessary to draw up a shortlist”.
He also lent his style to private homes, and at 51 Malone Park you’ll find his touch throughout the impressive home.
Accessed by a tree-lined avenue from the Lisburn Road and Balmoral Avenue, it could not be more convenient for the city centre, Lisburn Road, main arterial routes, leading schools, parks, golf clubs and shopping facilities.
A dual entrance leads to a parking and turning area to the front of the property with a detached garage, all set in south-facing gardens,
Inside, corniced ceilings, period fireplaces, oak panelling and oak strip flooring all feature as you move through an entrance porch, a spacious oak panelled reception hall, inner hall with cloakroom, boot room, and a utility room to three separate formal reception rooms, which include the sun room off the drawing room, a living room/office, and open-plan kitchen and dining room leading to the garden. On the first floor you’ll find four bedrooms, one with en suite shower and a family bathroom.
And if all that wasn’t enough for your money, there are a further two bedrooms and a shower room on a second floor.
Viewing is by appointment only through Simon Brien Residential estate agents, Lisburn Road, Belfast.