Protective Enclosure for Mackintosh’s Hill House Slated for 2028 Removal

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has announced that the substantial protective structure covering architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill House will be dismantled in 2028. This Helensburgh property, which is 120 years old, is recognized as Mackintosh’s most comprehensive design for a private residence. The building was enclosed within this chainmail structure five years prior, a measure taken to safeguard its waterlogged walls from additional harm and to facilitate their gradual desiccation. The NTS indicated that new funding totaling £1.1m from the National Lottery will enable the replacement of the current wall render and the removal of the protective box one year sooner than initially projected. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret Macdonald, conceived Hill House for the publisher Walter Blackie, who took up residence there in 1904. The couple contributed to the design of every element of the edifice and its interior fixtures. In their design process, Mackintosh explored novel materials, including Portland cement, which he applied as the exterior render for the house. Over subsequent years, this material permitted moisture to permeate the walls, resulting in their deterioration and disintegration. The NTS assumed proprietorship of the house in 1984. Following several endeavors to maintain the integrity of the original walls, the decision was ultimately made to enclose the structure within a chainmail box, intended to facilitate a 10-year drying period. The financial contribution from the National Lottery Heritage Fund now enables the trust to implement plans for render replacement one year ahead of schedule. The NTS stated its ongoing efforts to identify a substitute material that would offer a lasting remedy for the deteriorating walls. Officials commented that, in the absence of the protective enclosure, the house would most probably have disintegrated. In January, the NTS also assumed management of Mackintosh At The Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, another property originally conceived by the couple. The restored tea rooms came under NTS management following financial difficulties experienced by The Willow, which arose after the Covid pandemic and the fires that devastated Mackintosh’s proximate Glasgow School of Art. Philip Long, the chief executive of the NTS, remarked: “It was just a year ago that the future was in doubt for the tearoom.” He added, “And, as a conservation charity, we will protect both buildings to be enjoyed and experienced long into the future.”