The Hill House

The Hill House above Helensburgh is Charles Rennie Mackintosh's domestic masterpiece, built in 1902 to 1904 for the publisher Walter Blackie, who let Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald design everything from the building to the furniture and fabrics. The interiors survive, but the experimental cement render never coped with the west coast rain, so in 2019 the National Trust for Scotland enclosed the whole house in the Hill House Box, a steel frame in chainmail mesh that lets the walls dry while walkways carry visitors around and over the roof. Inside, the white drawing room and the bedroom are the set pieces; outside, the roof terrace looks across the Firth of Clyde to Arran, with a cafe and shop in the visitor centre. Dogs are welcome in the shop, on the roof terrace and on a lead in the garden. Reviewers say the Box adds to the visit and praise the staff and cafe. Tips from visitors: the station is a mile and a half away up a steep hill, parking is free, wheelchair access to the house is ground floor only, and the upper walkway is stairs.