The Mackintosh House
The Mackintosh House is a reconstruction of the principal interiors from the Glasgow home of the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) and the artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933).
The couple lived at 78 Southpark Avenue (originally 6 Florentine Terrace) from 1906 to 1914. Substantial alterations were made in 1906 as Mackintosh remodelled the proportions and natural lighting of the Victorian end-of-terrace house. The principal interiors were decorated in his distinctive style, remarkable then, and now, for the disciplined austerity of the furnishings and decoration.
The house was purchased by the University of Glasgow in 1946. The generosity of the vendors, the Davidson family, led to the simultaneous gift of all of the original furniture. In 1963, the house, threatened by subsidence and next to land scheduled for redevelopment, was demolished. Prior to demolition, however, an extensive survey was made and all salvageable fitments removed to enable the future reconstruction of the hall, dining room, studio-drawing room and main bedroom. While the architects, Whitfield Partners, conceived The Mackintosh House as an integral part of the Hunterian Art Gallery, they took pains to ensure that the sequence of rooms exactly reflected the original. Virtually the same views and effects of natural light are enjoyed, as 78 Southpark Avenue stood only some 100 metres away. Other areas of the original house - cloakroom, kitchen, bathroom, and secondary bedrooms - have not been reconstructed.
The interiors, completed in 1981, have been furnished with the Mackintoshes' own furniture - all to Mackintosh's design - and decorated as closely as possible to the original. The selection of bric à brac, fitted carpets, curtains and other soft furnishings was based on contemporary descriptions of the house and photographs of Mackintosh interiors of the period.
The Mackintosh Collection, based on the architect’s estate, is the largest single holding of his work. It comprises over 800 drawings, designs and watercolours, featuring all aspects of Mackintosh’s output, together with an important group of furniture and decorative art and a small but important archive of correspondence, photographs and periodicals. The work of Mackintosh’s contemporaries and collaborators, Margaret and Frances Macdonald and James Herbert MacNair, is also well represented. Changing selections from the collection are shown in The Mackintosh House Gallery.
VISITORS INFORMATION:
The Mackintosh House is open as usual
9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Saturday
Closed Sundays and public holidays
Admission charges to The Mackintosh House
Admission to The Mackintosh House is £3.00 / £2.00 (concession)
Free on Wednesday afternoons after 2.00 pm
Free to season ticket holders plus two guests
Free to students with a valid matriculation card
Free to University of Glasgow staff
Free to children under 5
Group discounts available for advance bookings
Annual season ticket available
Parking:
At weekends, free campus parking, only about 100m from the Museum and Art Gallery entrances, is normally available. Access to parking is from the Main Gate in University Avenue. There is also pay and display parking in University Avenue and along Kelvin Way.
There is Disabled parking within the University campus, entry is through the main gate in University Avenue.
How To Get Here:
The University of Glasgow is situated in the Hillhead district, 3km west of the city centre.
By Underground : Underground station, Hillhead.
By bus : First Buses, Nos. 44, 44A, from the city centre to University Avenue.
By car : The University is signposted locally. Parking on campus is by permit only on weekdays. Free parking on campus at weekends. Pay and display on Kelvin Way, University Avenue and adjoining streets; disabled drivers within University grounds by arrangement.