Skip to content

Box over Mackintosh house to be removed in 2028

Johan Dehlin The modern looking home designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh sits inside a massive chainmail protective box. Johan Dehlin
The protective box around Mackintosh's Hill House has been in place since 2019

A giant box built to protect architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Hill House from the weather will be removed in 2028, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has said.

The 120-year-old Helensburgh building is considered to be Mackintosh's most complete example of a domestic home.

It was placed inside the chainmail box five years ago in attempt to protect its saturated walls from further damage and allow them to gradually dry out.

The NTS said £1.1m in new funding from the National Lottery would allow it to replace the existing render on the walls and remove the box a year earlier than originally planned.

Martin Shields Steel walkways go around the white house. Martin Shields
The box allows visitors to see the house from a new perspective
National Trust for Scotland Charles Rennie Mackintosh's house before the box was put around it. The white walls sits in the midst of a green garden. The sun shines around the house. National Trust for Scotland
The experimental nature of Mackintosh's house meant it could not withstand the weather

Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald designed Hill House for publisher Walter Blackie, who started living there in 1904.

The couple had a hand in the design of every aspect of the building and its fittings.

As part of the design, Mackintosh experimented with new materials such as Portland cement, which he used to render the outside of the house.

Over the years it allowed moisture to absorb into the walls, causing them to decay and crumble.

The NTS took ownership of the house in 1984.

It made a number of attempts to keep the original walls intact but eventually decided to encase the building in a chainmail box to allow it to dry out for 10 years.

National Trust for Scotland The inside of one of the rooms of the house. There is a traditional table and chairs in the middle with Mackintosh designs. There is a sofa and another traditional couch on both the left and right hand side of the picture. The walls are covered in a Mackintosh style wallpaper. National Trust for Scotland
The house was designed by Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret Macdonald

The cash from the National Lottery Heritage Fund means the trust can put plans in place to replace the render a year early.

The NTS said it was working to find a replacement material that would be a long-term solution to the crumbling walls.

Officials said that without the box, the house would most likely have fallen apart.

Gibson Digital/National Trust for Scotland A sign that reads Mackintosh At The Willow. Gibson Digital/National Trust for Scotland
Mackintosh At The Willow is located on Sauchiehall Street

In January, the NTS took over another building originally designed by the couple, Mackintosh At The Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.

The restored tea rooms were taken over after the Covid pandemic and the fires which destroyed Mackintosh's nearby Glasgow School of Art left the Willow struggling financially.

NTS chief executive Philip Long said: "It was just a year ago that the future was in doubt for the tearoom.

"And, as a conservation charity, we will protect both buildings to be enjoyed and experienced long into the future."

Gibson Digital/National Trust for Scotland The inside of the tearooms is like a restaurant. There are 3 tables along the back with booths and two chairs at each of those tables. Then there are two tables in the middle with four chairs around each of them. The chairs are silver with purple cushions. The tables have white table clothes on them.Gibson Digital/National Trust for Scotland
The tea rooms were bought over by the National Trust for Scotland