The Hill House - Hellensburgh, Glasgow, Scotland (NTS)
Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1902, The Hill House sits overlooking the river, and consciously echoes the Scottish Baronial tradition, diffused by modern abstract forms. The patron, the publisher Walter Blackie, had commissioned Macintosh on the recommendation of a friend, and his requirements were for a family house, artistic yet functional, and not too costly. Mackintosh had already made a huge success of the Glasgow School of Art building and his all-encompassing design for The Hill House show both an eye for detail, in the glass-panels and furnishings in all media, and the overall scheme of the exterior. Built on a traditional L-shape, the grey harling coating and slate roof are lightened in appearance by the irregular arrangement and size of windows and angular, asymmetrical chimney-stacks.
Inside, an almost complete fairy-tale of beauty appears through the succeeding rooms. The atmosphere is quite reverential, and it is unlike any other place we have visited so far. A lot of the original furniture and decoration remains, but some of the stencilled decoration and carpets have been replicated, showing pieces of the original underneath. Although almost a hundred years old, the rooms seem modern and incredibly stylish. The Hall has a faintly Japanese feeling, uncluttered and spacious, and the subtle combination of influences from the Arts and Craft movement, Art Nouveau and Modern Abstraction fuses together to form the quintessential Mackintosh design. The rooms vary according to their function, the dark and cosy Study and the creamy and spacious Drawing Room are particularly stunning. Upstairs, the main bedroom is light and feminine, without being 'girly'. The East Wing now houses displays offering a closer examination of the effects of colour, texture and lighting which Mackintosh achieved. Throughout the house are touches of his wife, Margaret Macdonald, an artist of note in her own right, such as the Klimt-like gesso panel in the drawing room. The daughters of the Blackie family also contributed to the decoration.