Outbuildings at The Hill House, Upper Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh

The Hill House is a Grade A building designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1902 and 1904. It stands as an iconic example of Scottish Art Nouveau modern architecture, with interiors conceived in their entirety by Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. The house was designed for Walter W Blackie (1860–1953), an avant-garde publisher. It occupies a prominent position on high ground in the villa suburb above Helensburgh, set within artistically arranged gardens overlooking the Clyde Estuary.

Architectural Character

The house is a two-storey and attic structure of asymmetrical L-plan, conceived in a modern idiom derived from Scottish Baronial and vernacular prototypes. It is constructed of rubble sandstone with cement harl and cream sandstone ashlar dressings. The roof is slate grey with overhanging eaves featuring exposed rafter ends. Chimneys predominantly rise from the wallhead, with one set at an angle. Windows vary in size and type, comprising casement windows with square lead-pane glazing and timber small-pane sash and case windows. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

The house is oriented east to west with the entrance positioned in the west gable elevation. The entrance features a cream sandstone surround and a canted window above. To the left stands a tall battered wallhead chimney stack. To the right of the entrance bay is a recessed gable containing two narrow ground floor windows with ashlar margins and a small gablehead window with a narrow wallhead chimney stack to its left.

The south (garden) elevation comprises a two-storey wing, an advanced two-bay gable, and the gable of the service wing recessed to the far right. Within the re-entrant angle between the gable and service wing sits a round stair tower with a candle-snuffer roof. The two-storey wing exhibits irregular window openings: a large recessed ground floor window to the outer left with a shallow curved bay window above, flanked by small square window openings with plain square panels. An advanced squared flat-roofed bay at ground floor level features five lights on the south side, a window in the left return, and a doorway in the right return.

The advanced gable contains a pair of ground floor windows and an off-centre to right first floor window. A wallhead chimney stack rises above, with a small recessed attic window in a half-gable to the left of the chimney and an attic window in the right return topped by an ashlar stylised pediment.

The service wing's east elevation features a shallow bowed lead-pane tripartite window at first floor to the left and an advanced squared bay breaking the eaves to the outer right with a canted attic window. The west elevation contains attic windows with shaped gabled dormerheads. A single-storey L-plan range of outhouses adjoins to the east of the service wing.

The north elevation includes an advanced curved stair block to the right with tall and narrow windows and a doorway in the left return.

Interior

The interior retains most of its original and outstanding Glasgow Style decoration, including chimneypieces, stencilling, furniture and fittings designed by Mackintosh or Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. A large spacious lounge/hall features a timber dog-leg stair with a balustrade of slats creating a timber screen. The southwest corner library is lined with dark oak bookshelves and cupboards. The south drawing room displays distinctive stencil decoration, a large bay window with seat, an alcove for a grand piano, and a chimneypiece with mosaic surround and gesso panel by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. The southeast dining room is timber panelled in dark stained wood. Original bathroom fittings survive. First floor bedrooms retain stencil decoration, original fixtures, fittings and furniture. The L-shaped principal bedroom contains a sitting area with fireplace and integral seating, and a bespoke bed with decorated and canopied bed head positioned in a recess beneath a lower barrel vaulted ceiling.

Outbuildings and Boundary Features

To the northwest of the main house stands a U-plan range of outbuildings including a former gardeners cottage to the south and stable to the east with a garage to the north. This range is harled with a grey slate roof, harled stacks and lead-pane glazing. The boundary wall to Upper Colquhoun Street is interrupted by two-leaf boarded entrance gates to the courtyard and a garage to the left with two-leaf doors. The wall to the right of the courtyard gateway is pierced by two small windows with single shutters. A taller gabled bay projects to the outer right with a deep doorway set off-centre to the right.

At the east end of the garden terrace, to the southeast corner of the house, stands a single-storey cylindrical tool shed with conical roof. The doorway features a large stone lintel.

The boundary walls to Upper Colquhoun Street and Kennedy Drive are harled with flat ashlar coping. Taller wall sections are pierced by horseshoe-shaped openings with ashlar surrounds. Two entrances from Upper Colquhoun Street each feature square-plan piers with geometric motif and decorative iron gates. The gateway onto Kennedy Drive is positioned above a flight of steps and has curved flanking walls.