From a ceramic swan umbrella holder to a large, well-stocked bar and leopard-print dining chairs, Melanie Harrison’s living room is anything but magnolia and mainstream.
Painted in a shade described as ‘leopard black’, with original 19th-century cornicing and original Victorian floorboards, the room is both refuge and statement: a private haven floating above the stunning 30-bedroom Harrison Chambers of Distinction on Belfast’s Malone Road.
“This is my little haven, where I come to get my head showered. I can come and chill up here, but I’m never too far away if somebody needs me (in the hotel),” says Melanie, perched among furniture that has lived many lives and travelled many miles.
The building itself dates back to 1879 and carries a weight of Belfast social history.
Originally part of a terrace known as Winter Gardens, it was once home to linen barons, clergy, including the minister of Fisherwick Presbyterian Church on the opposite side of the road, and the movers and shakers of the time.
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Among its notable former residents were members of the McGonigal family – three brothers whose lives intersected law, culture and war.
One, Ambrose McGonigal, became the first Catholic judge in Northern Ireland.
“His father had moved from Dublin to here and had great ambitions to be a judge. Unfortunately in the times that he lived in, he only got to be a county court judge, he didn’t reach the heights of his son, but Ambrose was a well-known and respected judge here.”
Another brother, Owen, was closely connected to Blair Mayne, later a commander in the SAS.
“And a third brother, Richard McGonigal, a noted theatre figure, was a close friend of Jack B. Yeats. In fact, Yeats put Richard in his famous painting About to Write a Letter, a work now held in the National Gallery, of which I have a print. Over the years he also assembled a significant collection of Yeats’ works, which he bequeathed to the National Gallery so that, as he put it, they would remain a gift for the Irish people.”
“There’s a whole chapter in a book about their life here,” says Melanie. “It’s lovely to feel part of a register like that.”
That sense of continuity is echoed in the fabric of the room. The ornate cornicing is entirely original, untouched since the Victorian era. The floorboards, revealed when carpets were lifted, date from the same period. “I was so lucky,” she says. “It was all intact.”
Yet the building has never been static. Over the decades it has shifted from grand private homes to apartments – once nicknamed Bachelors’ Row – and later to offices.
“John Hewitt lived here in 45 Malone Road (now part of The Harrison) from 1936 to 1939 while he was the artistic director of the Ulster Museum. It was a bit of a scandal at the time because he was unmarried and ‘living in sin’ with Roberta (whom he would later marry) – in those days that would have been scandalous.”
During the Troubles, banks and architects occupied the rooms, valued for their perceived safety.
I don’t try to be quirky. I just go with my heart
Melanie Harrison
When Melanie bought the property at auction in 2012, it was still offices. There was no gas, no water, and she and her family camped out on mattresses as birds tried to nest in the cornices.
“People told me I was mad,” she recalls. “No garden, no parking, groceries carried upstairs. But I’ve the Botanic Gardens across the road – what better garden could you want?”
Travel has shaped Melanie’s sense of home. Originally from Armagh, she has lived in America, New Zealand, France and England, and is comfortable with upstairs living and compact urban spaces.
“I lived in France for a couple of years. I left with a couple of suitcases but the horse sculpture (which sits proudly on a high shelf behind her bar) had to come with me because I really love him.”
The interior style is eclectic. White walls once dominated, chosen after “grey fatigue” from a previous house. Over time, she has “grown into” richer, darker tones. Green, her favourite colour, appears in accents throughout. Furniture migrates constantly between house and hotel; her own rooms are “pillaged on a frequent basis”.
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Many pieces carry personal stories. Two ceramic Staffordshire dogs belonged to her Granny Harrison.
“I was one of those granddaughters to whom she would give everything. ‘Who wants it?’ she’d ask, and without hesitation it was always me. The others would shrug and say, ‘What would we want with all this old-fashioned stuff?’ But I’ve always loved antiques and things with a story. So I ended up with her tea sets and pictures.”
A wooden fruit bowl came back from Morocco in hand luggage on a Ryanair flight. A bar unit, bought in Wilson’s Yard, Dromore, has hosted legendary parties – though she admits to worrying about the floor when the crowd grows.
A mid-century sofa was sourced on Facebook Marketplace. Chairs, a pink elephant and Betty Boop ornament came from friends, a large ottoman from another, a glass cabinet from a large house in Larne via her father.
Melanie believes she inherited her love of sourcing unusual objects at auctions.
“I think my love of auctions comes from my mum and dad. They always enjoyed visiting those lovely old houses and auction venues.”
“I don’t try to be quirky,” she insists. “I just go with my heart. It turns out that way.”
Even the television, which she rarely gets a chance to watch, is framed like artwork. French jars line a shelf, collected while she lived between Carcassonne and Toulouse. A Ukrainian vodka carp sits on her bar.
Her children, now older, once found the house mortifying. “They thought it was crazy,” she laughs. One famously described the hotel as “like an opium den” – a verdict she accepted as a compliment. These days, there is more appreciation, if still a little embarrassment.
Melanie loves her home and the hotel continues to evolve around her, but she has no intention of leaving. “They ask me would I not move out and make more hotel rooms,” she says. “But I love living here. I like being in the middle of things.
“Everybody’s always popping in and out. I have great friends and neighbours around. It’s fantastic being close to the Mandela Hall and the Lyric Theatre and all the nice restaurants around.
“I won’t move out of the hotel, so I’ll have to turn in to a nursing home,” she laughs.
