The house was never actually meant to be built: House for an Art Lover was a design study. Yet today it stands – and it is beautiful.
The drawings arrived too late; they couldn’t be considered. The problem was: the drawings were brilliant! What this Scottish architect submitted to the German magazine “Innendekoration” for its “House for an Art Lover” competition was pure inspiration. And so the judges decided to publish the ideas for the House for an Art Lover anyway. That made its creator, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, known in Germany and Austria too.
Of course, no one involved ever intended for the house to actually be built. And so House for an Art Lover remained a beautiful dream – until, in the 1980s, one man thought, “what if…”.
Today, House for an Art Lover really does exist. It stands in Bellahouston Park on the south-western edge of Glasgow, Mackintosh’s home city. And it can be visited. There’s a café, a small souvenir shop, a detailed information centre, and of course the wonderful rooms, doors, lamps…
However, the house is not a museum. It can be booked for events. Weddings take place there almost every weekend. So you might sometimes find tables set and wedding planners lining up chairs.
On one hand, the sheer spaciousness of the house’s rooms is impressive. Yet there’s a real risk of getting lost in the details – in the door details or the stained-glass windows.
The rose, as a symbol of Mackintosh and Glasgow, appears again and again in many motifs. For example, in the window of the door to the music room.
And the music room is surely the house’s most impressive room. Entirely in white with delicate tones of lilac, red and green, curved wooden elements and a striking piano. On the walls and windows, ornaments and fabrics reminiscent of those by Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh.
There are further things to discover, such as the oval room or the staircase with its large, angular chandelier. But the music room is the highlight of the journey through the house. It’s best to save it for the end of your visit.
Of course, the house can also be viewed and walked around from the outside. In doing so, you’ll already encounter a number of artworks and installations in Bellahouston Park. And the old house entrance of Ibroxhill House, which previously stood on this site, is a real eye-catcher too.
For fans of Charles Rennie Mackintosh or frequent visitors to Glasgow, a trip to House for an Art Lover is certainly well worth it. For everyone else, it can also be great fun combined with Bellahouston Park, which also offers a maze, a walled garden, playgrounds and more.
Good to know: The history of House for an Art Lover
The construction of House for an Art Lover can be summed up in one word: difficult. It began with the fact that the plans were never really intended for actual building. In some places, the drawings for the exterior didn’t even match the interior floor plan.
On top of that, Mackintosh simply met the standards of his time around 1900 – today’s safety requirements were unknown to him. So his design first had to be turned into architecture that would actually function today. That’s why many today don’t consider the house a “genuine Mackintosh”.
Construction began in 1989, and just a year later the exterior was complete. But then three things happened at once: the outbreak of the first Gulf War, the fall of the pound, and problems with public funding. The house was standing, but construction came to a halt.
In 1992, the then director of the Glasgow School of Art, Professor Dugald Cameron, visited the house and developed the idea that it should become part of the school. This was sealed in 1994 and construction resumed. In 1996, House for an Art Lover was finally opened. Since then it has been run and managed by a charitable trust.
Getting there:
With a sat nav: “G41 5BW” will get you to Bellahouston Park. Parking is available at Glasgow Ski Centre.
Public transport: From the city centre, the underground also runs out to Bellahouston Park. The stop is Ibrox. From there, go right to the end of Copland Road. Cross it and continue right along Paisley Road West until you reach the junction. Cross the road again, then immediately left over the footbridge, then continue along Dumbreck Road to the entrance of Bellahouston Park on the right, marked “Glasgow Ski Centre/House for an Art Lover”. The walk takes around ten to 15 minutes.