Hill House Commentary

"Hill House, the largest and finest of Mackintosh's domestic buildings, . . .

occupies a hillside side that looks out over the Clyde estuary, and is
surrounded by grounds meticulously landscaped by Mackintosh, who went
to the extent of instructing that the trees be clipped according to his manner
of drawing them.
"Built from local sandstone and rough-cast rendered, the house bears the
image of Scottish baronial traditions. For the interior, Mackintosh designed
fireplaces, furnishings and fittings. His attentions extended from the design
of built-in wardrobes for the white bedroom to the detailing in a superb set
of pewter fire tongs and poker. Walls in the house were generally white,
some with delicate stencil designs in pale greens, pinks, and silver."
Jackie Cooper, ed. Mackintosh Architecture, the Complete Buildings and
Selected Projects. New York: Rizzoli Press, 1980, p. 40.
The narrow building stretches west to east with an entrance off the road to
the west, so that all major rooms face south to the view of the estuary. At the
eastern end of these major rooms a wing extends north, with rooms for the
kitchen and services and the children. Out of these simple wings volumes
extend, a curving stair volume to the north, a sunny drawing room bay to the
south, a curved bay for the bedroom, compositional extrusions in the simple
major volumes which focus views and bring in light.— JY
"Mackintosh saw building not as a single creative act, but as a social process
in which the adaptation of the original design to suit the changing needs of
the client was vital. He altered the design of Hill House, for example, while
building progressed, to accommodate a nursery for a new baby -- an
unexpected addition to the Blackie family."