Hill House Box by CR Mackintosh - Serenity 22 Barend

123 miles NNW ~2h 30m min drive G84 9AJ

Hill House is over 2 hours drive from Sandyhills, but if you’re a fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and/or art nouveau it’s definitely worth it! The house is a true piece of art, and so it’s a fascinating experience to visit.

We stopped at Douglas Bakery, which is around half way, to break up our journey. They serve delicious savoury and sweet bakes and drinks and there’s also indoor and outdoor seating.

Glasgow Style

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a Scottish architect, designer, and artist, designed Hill House in the early 1900s for the Blackie family. It stands as an amazingly well-preserved testament to his work. Moreover, the restoration team has faithfully restored most of the rooms to the original design, complete with original furniture, fittings, and decoration. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh designed almost everything, inside and out, in the ‘Glasgow style’, even down to the bedspreads!

The Box – Preserving Hill House

Hill House is a substantial family home but has relatively small grounds and is nestled in a quiet residential area. The National Trust for Scotland have built a large mesh box around the house – completely enclosing it – to protect it from the elements because the weather was sadly destroying the exterior of the house.

The box was opened in June 2019. Whilst obviously changing the external look of the house, the box actually allows visitors to see even more of Hill House than previously. This is because the walkways inside the box go right over the roof of the property, allowing you a complete view of the outside.

Hill house Cafe - Tea, Scone, Jam & Cream!

Verdict

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and spent 3 – 4 hours at the house. During this time, we were able to carefully absorb the art and design within each room, sample tea and scones at the cafe, explore the rooftop walkways and visit the shop, which sold a good range of Mackintosh items.

After our visit to Hill House, we completed our day out by driving into Glasgow and then visiting the ‘Mackintosh at The Willow’ Tea Rooms. You can read our review of the Tea Rooms here.