This post is about a house for sale. But not just any old house. This is a house by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) , described as "a treasure of international significance". Windyhill, outside Glasgow, was designed by Mackintosh for a friend and completed in 1901. It is one of only 3 complete houses which he designed in his lifetime. Sadly, a man who is now regarded as one of Britain's greatest architects and designers had few opportunities to practise his skills and died poor. Now his house is expected to reach over £5 million.
Mackintosh style unites Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and modernism with the Scottish vernacular. Windyhill is an example of this. Mackintosh has been described as a designer who brought the garden into the house (Wendy Hitchmough, Arts and Crafts Gardens). He and his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh used flower and plant motifs in their interior decoration. A stylized rose was a design that appeared again and again, as can be seen at Hill House, owned by the National Trust. Mackintosh was not greatly involved with garden design although he did make suggestions for the garden at Hill House, with high stone walls, espaliered trees and an arbour. His plans show rows of standardised rose bushes and trellises which would harmonise with the interior.
Windyhill's owners have restored it carefully and the house is a work of art. One wonders though, is it possible to live in a work of art? If I had £5 million I'd give it a go.
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