Hill House, Helensburgh

{{Short description|Home in Helensburgh, Scotland designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh}}

{{About||the school in Knightsbridge, London|Hill House School|the fictional haunted house|The Haunting of Hill House}}

{{Multiple issues|{{more citations needed|date=October 2011}}

{{tone|date= October 2022}}}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = Hill House

| image = HillHouse.jpg

| established = 1902

| location = Helensburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

| architect = Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh

| owner = Walter Blackie

| website = https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house

}}

The Hill House is a manor in Helensburgh, Scotland, created by architects and designers Charles and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-02 |title=Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House – when two roofs are better than one |url=http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jun/02/hill-house-helensburgh-charles-rennie-mackintosh-carmody-groarke |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Hillhouse by Charles Rennie Mackintosh |url=https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/mackintosh/3.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=victorianweb.org}} The house was built in the British Modern Style and was designed and built for the publisher Walter Blackie in 1902–1904.{{Cite web |title=The Hill House, Helensburgh |url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/online-exhibitions/great-scottish-interiors/the-hill-house-helensburgh/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.historicenvironment.scot |language=en}}

Mackintosh also designed the house interior, including furniture and fittings.{{Cite web |title=The Hill House |url=https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=National Trust for Scotland |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The Hill House, Helensburgh |url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/online-exhibitions/great-scottish-interiors/the-hill-house-helensburgh/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.historicenvironment.scot |language=en}} In 1982, the house was donated to the National Trust for Scotland, which maintains and opens the house to visitors.{{Cite web|last=Scotland|first=National Trust for|date=2021-06-29|title=The Hill House|url=https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house|access-date=2021-06-29|website=National Trust for Scotland|language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Hillhouse by Charles Rennie Mackintosh |url=https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/mackintosh/3.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=victorianweb.org}}

Construction

In 1902, Walter Blackie, a publisher from Blackie and Son, commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh to design the house. Talwin Morris, art director for Blackie and Son, recommended that Blackie work with Mackintosh.{{Cite web |title=The Hill House, Helensburgh |url=https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/online-exhibitions/great-scottish-interiors/the-hill-house-helensburgh/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.historicenvironment.scot |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mackintosh Architecture: People |url=https://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/names/display/?rs=27&nid=RGIFA |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk}}

Blackie had specific requirements for the construction, seeking grey rough-cast walls and a slate roof instead of traditional materials like bricks and wood beams with red-tiled roofs commonly used in the west of Scotland. He also emphasised architectural effects through the massing of the parts rather than ornamentation, granting Mackintosh creative freedom in his design ideas.[http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/The-Hill-House/News/1557/ NTS Places to visit - The Hill House] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402233506/http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/The-Hill-House/News/1557/ |date=2012-04-02 }}

Mackintosh observed the everyday life of the Blackie family before creating any drawings, aiming to tailor the house to the needs of its occupants by addressing functional aspects before developing the design.{{Cite web |last=Collection |first=Tea |date=2017-10-23 |title=Living in a Work of Art: Mackintosh's Hill House |url=https://blog.teacollection.com/hill-house |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Tea Collection Blog |language=en-US}}

There have been reports of the house being haunted by the ghost of Walter Blackie{{Cite web |title=BBC Scotland - BBC Scotland - There’s an actual Hill House in the UK — and yes, it’s haunted |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/KXtvv5H2hwq2jpnXcV3Frx/there-s-an-actual-hill-house-in-the-uk-and-yes-it-s-haunted |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}. This includes sightings of a tall, slender figure dressed in black with a long black cape vanishing after entering the bedroom.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nts.org.uk/Autumn/Ghosts/ |title=National Trust for Scotland - Autumn |access-date=4 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402233446/http://www.nts.org.uk/Autumn/Ghosts/ |archive-date=2 April 2012 |url-status=dead }} Witnesses have also reported smelling cigar smoke in the house without any discernible source.{{Cite web |title=BBC Scotland - BBC Scotland - There’s an actual Hill House in the UK — and yes, it’s haunted |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/KXtvv5H2hwq2jpnXcV3Frx/there-s-an-actual-hill-house-in-the-uk-and-yes-it-s-haunted |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}

Exterior

The Hill House was designed and constructed by Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret MacDonald, for a fee of £5,000.{{Cite web |last=The Newsroom |date=22 November 2018 |title=Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House gets giant chainmail '˜box' |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/charles-rennie-mackintoshs-hill-house-gets-giant-chainmail-box-205093 |access-date=24 January 2023 |website=www.scotsman.com}} Its exterior exhibits an asymmetrical design. Mackintosh was influenced by A. W. N. Pugin’s picturesque utility, where the exterior contour evolves from the interior planning. Echoing Pugin’s theory, Mackintosh minimised exterior decoration to emphasise the interior design. He did this by making the transition from the outside world into a more inviting interior space. Paint analysis of the harling on the exterior shows that it might have initially been left as an unpainted pale grey.Patrick Baty. The Hill House. A report following an examination of a number of external surfaces.11 May 2005.

= Preservation (2019–2028) =

File:The Hill House, Helensburgh (48672523318).jpg

Mackintosh selected Portland cement harling, then a newly introduced product, for the surface finish. This harling was found to be less durable than traditional lime harling, and by 2017, it was discovered to be in a precarious condition, putting the integrity of the whole building at risk. As a temporary solution, the National Trust enclosed the Hill House in a transparent, porous "box" in 2019, allowing some movement of air so that the structure dries out gradually.{{cite web|title=How We'll Save Hill House|url=https://www.nts.org.uk/What-we-do/Article/How-Well-Save-Hill-House/|website=The National Trust for Scotland|access-date=2 February 2018|date=30 November 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Slessor |first1=Catherine |title=Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House – when two roofs are better than one |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jun/02/hill-house-helensburgh-charles-rennie-mackintosh-carmody-groarke |website=The Observer |access-date=2 June 2019 |date=2 June 2019}} The steel box is set to remain in place until 2028.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-19 |title=Protective box around Rennie Mackintosh house to remain in place until 2028 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/charles-rennie-mackintosh-willow-scotland-b2666884.html |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

As with several of Mackintosh's buildings, there were problems of water ingress from the outset. In 1953, then-owner Campbell Lawson commissioned Glasgow architect Margaret Brodie to redesign details to resolve this issue.https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house/women-of-the-hill-house

Interior

{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}File:Hill House 7 (37376578142).jpg

The mansion incorporated the Edwardian period’s traditional association of an intimate interior space with "femininity" and exterior public spaces with "masculinity". Mackintosh's design approach involved introducing elements traditionally considered "masculine" into the interior, departing from the ornate conventionally "feminine" interiors typical of the period. This method enabled variations in the atmosphere and experience of different spaces according to their intended functions.{{Cite web |date=2018-06-04 |title=Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House was designed from the inside out |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/04/charles-rennie-mackintosh-hill-house-helensburgh-architecture/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Dezeen |language=en}}

References

External links

Category:Visionary environments

[https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/the-hill-house] from the National Trust for Scotland, including opening hours and location information.
[http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Hill_House.html www.greatbuildings.com] with some exterior and interior photographs of the house.