Hill House in Helensburgh

Helensburgh

Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 is one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and artist. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design...

 most famous works, probably second only to Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...

. It was designed and built for the publisher Walter Blackie

Blackie and Son Limited

Blackie and Son Limited was a publishing house in Glasgow, Scotland and in London, England, from 1890 to 1991.The firm was founded in 1809 by John Blackie, snr. as a partnership with two others and was originally known as 'Blackie, Fullerton and Company'. It began printing in 1819 and was renamed...

 in 1902 – 1904.

In addition to the house itself, Mackintosh also designed most of the interior rooms, furniture and other fixings. Mackintosh's attention to detail even extended to prescribing the colour of cut flowers that the Blackies might place on a table in the living room, so as not to clash with the rest of the decor.

In 1982 the house was donated to the National Trust for Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...

 which continues to maintain it and manage visitors. The top floor is leased to the Landmark Trust

Landmark Trust

The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...

 and is used as holiday accommodation.

The client

To the west of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Helensburgh was the new settlement area for those whose business wealth came from the crowded, industrialised city. In 1902, the publisher Walter Blackie purchased a lot in the neighborhood. After a suggestion from the friend Talwin Morris

Talwin Morris

Talwin Morris was a leading illustrator and book designer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a business acquaintance of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.His mother died in childbirth....

, Mackintosh was appointed to design and build the future home of the Blackie’s family: The Hill House. At first Walter was surprised with the youthfulness of the architect, until he visited one of the houses Mackintosh had previously designed and was convinced that this was the right person to build his home. Although a few restrictions were still imposed by the owner: no bricks and plaster and wood beams construction, and no red-tiled roof, as seen in the rest of the traditional West of Scotland

West of Scotland

West of Scotland may refer to:*West of Scotland, an electoral region of the Scottish Parliament*Informally, an area comprising Argyll, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Renfrewshire*West of Scotland Football Club*West of Scotland Cricket Club...

. Instead, Blackie asked for gray rough cast for the walls, and slate for the roof; and that any architectural effect sought to be secured by the massing of the parts rather than by adventitious ornaments. The few requirements and the non-traditional, ornamental taste of the client himself allowed Mackintosh to give full life to his design ideas.

Prior to start creating an elevation drawing or even a floor plan

Floor plan

In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....

, Mackintosh spent a few days in the former house of the Blackies to observe their everyday life; to build from the inside out. By profoundly analyzing the family’s habits Mackintosh would be able to design every aspect of the house according to the needs of each user. He believed the functional issues should firstly be solved to then let the beauty aspect evolve from the solution. The result could only be one of an extremely satisfied client: “to larder, kitchen, laundry etc he gave minute attention to fit them for practical needs, and always pleasingly designed. Every detail, inside as well as outside, received his careful, I might say loving, attention.” Mackintosh believed this was the only honest way of designing.

The house is reportedly haunted and a staff member described a tall slender figure dressed in black with a long black cape that appeared from Mr Blackie's Dressing Room. Upon entering the White Bedroom the figure vanished.

The exterior

The uniform and grayish exterior treatment of the building blends in with the cold cloudy sky of Scotland. The completely asymmetrical construction forms different roof levels and shapes, and also records Mackintosh’s appreciation for A. W. N. Pugin’s picturesque utility where the exterior contour evolves from the interior planning. The minimum decoration, heavy walls, and rectangular and square windows express a strong, sober construction. The exterior qualities of the building are nearly the opposite of the warm, exotic, carefully decorated and smooth interior. Again, Mackintosh relates to Pugin’s theory by minimizing exterior decoration to emphasize the interior design: the transition from the outside world into a safe, fantastic inside space. Paint analysis of the harling on the exterior shows that it might have been left as an unpainted pale grey initially.

The interior

The mansion combined the Edwardian period

Edwardian period

The Edwardian era or Edwardian period in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910.The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 and the succession of her son Edward marked the end of the Victorian era...

’s traditional ‘femininity’ of an intimate, inside space, with the ‘masculinity’ of the exterior public world, both uncommonly used throughout the interior of the building. To Mackintosh, bringing the masculine aspects to the inside would break away from the over decorated, entirely feminine conventional interiors. This allowed him to convey different feelings and experiences depending on the purpose of each space. Mackintosh used different materials, colours and lighting, when necessary to perform a full experiential transition from one point to another. All in such an elegant and well planned manner, that with the absence of one the other would mar.

Transport links

Helensburgh Upper railway station

Helensburgh Upper railway station

Helensburgh Upper railway station serves the town of Helensburgh, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde to the west of Glasgow. It is located in a residential area uphill from the town centre and is by far the smaller of the town's two stations....

 is located within a few minutes' walk. The use of this station avoids the uphill walk from Helensburgh Central railway station

Helensburgh Central railway station

Helensburgh Central railway station serves the town of Helensburgh on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde, near to Glasgow, Scotland. The station is a terminus on the North Clyde Line, north west of Glasgow Queen Street railway station...

although trains are less frequent.

External links

• Official page from the National Trust for Scotland, including opening hours and location information.
• www.greatbuildings.com with some exterior and interior photographs of the house.