Garfield Villa, 48 Marlborough Park North, is a detached residence providing comfort and elegant charm just outside the city centre. The four-bedroom property was built in 1881, complete with a classic dormer Mansard roof surmounted by cast-iron cresting. “The completely original design of the house” has remained since the nineteenth century, says current owner Marcella Lively.
From the high corniced ceilings to large bay windows, the structural design reflects its unique character. “It’s always been a well-loved family home, people have stayed for decades.”.
Three reception rooms and a study on the first floor provide ample space, ideal for those seeking peace and quiet in the city. Below ground, the family home boasts a basement cellar. It offers full overhead light and natural light, as well as three rooms, a shower room and a utility room.
At the rear of the house sits a large garden room accessed by stairs from the kitchen. The residence is also host to beautifully maintained private gardens with an extensive paved patio area. However, the current owners emphasise the architectural value of 48 Marlborough Park North, after they bought the home in 1983.
“The house was pretty much untouched, in terms of a Victorian home. Obviously, there were some- there was electricity,” says Ms Lively. “But there was very little done to it.
Every decade that has gone by, the residents have not taken away from the Victorian style.” Internally, the design still very much plays host to a unique appearance. “We would always go to London, and we would go to Linley Sambourne’s house.
He was a Victorian artist and the Cartoonist for Punch Magazine,” Ms Lively explains. “[His] house is now owned by the Victorian Society. I sort of based my interior design on that.
“Thank goodness people didn’t do weird things in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. We thought it was a lovely Victorian house, and had been kept that way. I thought that was very important,” she continues.
The property further played a key role in the suburban expansion of the Malone and Lisburn Road in Belfast. It was established by the Workman family in 1881, and in 1896 became the Ladies’ Collegiate School. In 1901, records show the Rainey family having bought it, where various families have lived for many years at a time.
“It really has been loved over the generations of people who have lived here. That’s what you pick up whenever you come in,” adds Ms Lively. “Many don’t know the background of the people who lived here, and I think that’s really very important.
I want everyone to know what lovely memories we had living here.”.
