Hill House

Over het museum

The Hill House in Helensburgh was designed between 1902 and 1904 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the Glasgow publisher Walter Blackie. Mackintosh worked closely with his wife, the artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, and together they shaped almost everything inside, from the layout of the rooms to the furniture and textiles in the Glasgow style. The house is often described as Mackintosh's domestic masterpiece, and the Blackie family lived here for almost fifty years.

The outer walls were finished in a cement-based roughcast that was at the cutting edge of building technology around 1900 but did not stay watertight in the wet climate of the west of Scotland. Over the decades the walls became saturated, and by the 2010s moisture was threatening the interiors. The National Trust for Scotland, which looks after the house, began a ten-year conservation programme and in 2019 enclosed the whole building in a large steel frame covered with chainmail mesh, known as the Box.

The Box lets the walls dry out slowly while visitors can still go inside. Inside the house, rooms such as the Cloakroom, Boot Room and Daughters' Bedroom show the details of the interior design. Outside, walkways lead around the building and over the roof, giving close views of the house and of Helensburgh and the Firth of Clyde. A visitor centre inside the Box has a shop, a café and a roof terrace, and the conservation work, including removal of the original render, remains part of the story told on site.

Hoogtepunten

• Interiors, furniture and textiles designed by Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald in the Glasgow style
• The Box: a steel frame with chainmail mesh and walkways around and over the roof
• Roof terrace and café with views across the Firth of Clyde to Arran
• Reopened Cloakroom, Boot Room and Daughters' Bedroom
• Stories of the Blackie family who lived in the house

Vaste collectie

• The house – Rooms, furniture and textiles designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, with the story of the Blackie family.
• Hill House Box – A protective steel structure with walkways around and over the house, explaining how the Trust is conserving the building.

Beheerder

National Trust for Scotland

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Admission is free for National Trust for Scotland members. The Hill House takes part in ScotRail's 2-for-1 offer: two adults enter for the price of one with a valid rail ticket and a printed voucher. No admission ticket is needed to visit the café and shop.

Toegankelijkheid

• Deels rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats: niet aanwezig
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The visitor centre, café and roof terrace are fully wheelchair accessible, and a lift in the visitor centre serves the café, the roof terrace and the walkways. Inside the house, wheelchair access is only to the ground floor, entered by a side door with a ramp; there is no lift in the house and 24 steps lead to the first floor. The perimeter walkway of the Box suits wheelchairs, but the top walkway over the roof does not. Garden paths are gravel and narrow, and the paving is uneven. There is an accessible toilet with baby changing in the visitor centre, and Braille guidebooks are available. Assistance dogs are welcome throughout the house and garden. The car park has no designated disabled spaces. A detailed accessibility guide is published on the Trust's website.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Kinderwagenvriendelijk
• Verschoonruimte

Children's activities are listed among the facilities, and a room on the first floor lets visitors colour in and play games. Baby changing, highchairs and buggy access are provided in the visitor centre, but gravel garden paths and the steps inside the house are hard to manage with buggies.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

The Hill House is off the A818, 23 miles north-west of Glasgow.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Museumwinkel
• Wifi

Café on the first floor of the visitor centre with gluten-free and vegan options and a roof terrace, plus a shop with Mackintosh-inspired gifts. Wi-Fi is listed among the visitor facilities. Bike racks are beside the visitor centre entrance and picnics are allowed.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen

The house is offered for corporate events and private parties.

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