Built / Designed For: Walter Blackie

House & Family History: Noted for its innovative design and construction techniques, The Hill House was built in the British Modern Style for Walter Blackie, director of Blackie & Son, a well-known firm of Glasgow publishers. Located in a suburb of Glasgow, the villa was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who also designed much of the furniture and interior decoration. Margaret MacDonald, Mackintosh's wife, designed fabrics and some interiors for The Hill House. In the geometric design of the furniture and the use of dark wood against light-colored walls, Mackintosh revealed the influence of Japanese design esthetics. Very unusually for an architect, before he designed the floor plan, Mackintosh spent time in the Blackies' old home to observe their everyday life so that he could create a house that suited their lifestyle. Walter Blackie, also unusually, specified that no plaster, bricks, or wooden beams were to be used in the construction of the house. In 1982 The Hill House was donated to the National Trust for Scotland. The house is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Walter Blackie. who appears in a black cape accompanied by the smell of pipe or cigar smoke.

Comments: The Hill House is considered Mackintosh's finest house.

Garden & Outbuildings: The gardens were restored in the late 20th century by the National Trust for Scotland.

House Listed: Category A

Park Listed: Not Listed

Past Seat / Home of: Walter Wilfred Blackie, 1904-53.

Current Ownership Type: The National Trust for Scotland

Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction

House Open to Public: Yes

Phone: 01436-739-000

Fax: 01436-674-685

Website: https://www.nts.org.uk

Historic Houses Member: No