Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

"WINDYHILL", ROWANTREEHILL ROAD KILMACOLMLB12450

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
10/06/1971
Supplementary Information Updated
31/05/2019
Local Authority
Inverclyde
Planning Authority
Inverclyde
Parish
Kilmacolm
NGR
NS 36222 69431
Coordinates
236222, 669431

Description

Detached L-plan two-storey house in severe "Modern Movement" manner. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and built between 1900-02. Roughcast walls, slated pitched roofs, flat roof to porch behind parapet. There is a long cat-slide gable to the northeast, a two-storey apsidal stair tower to the north and a similar but wider and lower porch. Sandstone dressings to main entrance doorway. Windows are multi-paned timber sash and leaded casements in a range of dimensions with roughcast surrounds. Large canted bay window to west elevation. Single-storey washhouse and laundry attached. Decorative elements by Mackintosh to the interior. Rubble boundary wall incorporating a curved dip with dressed stone coping. Outdoor garden space also designed by Mackintosh.

Statement of Special Interest

Mackintosh designed this large detached house in the affluent small commuter town of Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire for the Glasgow produce broker and commission merchant William Davidson, who became one of Mackintosh's long-term patrons. Windyhill was a private commission that Mackintosh was allowed to pursue prior to becoming a partner in the practice of John Honeyman & Keppie in 1901.

For his design, Mackintosh drew heavily on Scottish vernacular traditions but also borrowed historical details from English architecture, as well as showing reference to recent architectural developments. Contemporary vernacular revival work in Scotland that may have influenced him included the work of James MacLaren and Dunn & Watson's cottages (LB12293 and LB12295), Glenlyon House (LB12266) and the Hotel (LB12292) at Fortingall in highland Perthshire. Robert Lorimer's cottages at Colinton in Edinburgh and Voysey's villas in the southeast England of the 1890s are also thought to have influenced Mackintosh's design for Windyhill (Mackintosh Architecture).

Windyhill would go on to serve as a model for two of Mackintosh's other important projects, The Hill House at Helensburgh (LB34761) and the House for an Art Lover competition design. Windyhill marks the emergence of Mackintosh's use of roughcast, which would become an important element of his work in the early 1900s. Evoking traditional buildings in Scotland and England, it became a common feature of the vernacular revival during the early 20th century that took place across the United Kingdom. The L-shaped plan was also typical of vernacular revival houses and it is suggested that the layout of Windyhill derives specifically from The Hurst, Sutton Coldfield (1893) by W. R. Lethaby, whose work Mackintosh was know to have admired (Mackintosh Architecture). Mackintosh did not design all of the interior fittings and furniture as the owners brought some of their existing furniture (Mackintosh Architecture).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was born in Glasgow and is regarded internationally as one of the leading architects and designers of the 20th century. He became known as a pioneer of Modernism, although his architecture took much inspiration from Scottish Baronial, and Scottish and English vernacular forms and their reinterpretation. The synthesis of modern and traditional forms led to a distinctive form of Scottish arts and crafts design, known as 'The Glasgow Style'. This was developed in collaboration with contemporaries Herbert McNair, and the sisters Francis and Margaret Macdonald (who would become his wife in 1900), who were known as 'The Four'. The Glasgow Style is now synonymous with Mackintosh and the City of Glasgow.

Mackintosh's work is wide-ranging and includes public, educational and religious buildings to private houses, interior decorative schemes and sculptures. He is associated with over 150 design projects, ranging from being the principal designer, to projects he was involved with as part of the firm of John Honeyman & Keppie (Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh from 1901). The most important work during this partnership was the Glasgow School of Art (LB33105), which was built in two phases from 1897 and culminated in the outstanding library of 1907.

Other key works include the Willow Tea Rooms (LB33173), the Glasgow Herald Building (now The Lighthouse) (LB33087) and Hill House (LB34761), which display the modern principles of the German concept of 'Gesamtkunstwerk', meaning the 'synthesis of the arts'. This is something that Mackintosh applied completely to all of his work, from the exterior to the internal decorative scheme and the furniture and fittings.

Mackintosh left Glasgow in 1914, setting up practice in London the following year. Later he and Margaret moved to France, where until his death, his artistic output largely turned to textile design and watercolours.

Listed building record revised in 2019.

References

Bibliography

References:

Printed Sources

Brown, A (2018) Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style. Glasgow: Glasgow Museums.

Cooper, J. (editor) (1984) Mackintosh architecture: the complete buildings and selected projects. London: Academy.

Crawford, A (1995) Charles Rennie Mackintosh. London: Thomas and Hudson.

Howarth, T. (1977) Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

Neat, T. & McDermott, G. (2002) Closing The Circle Thomas Howarth, Mackintosh and the Modern Movement. Aberdour: Inyx publishing.

Robertson, P. (editor) (1990) Mackintosh: The Architectural Papers. Wendlebury: White Cockade Publishing.

Online Sources

Dictionary of Scottish Architects, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=200362 (accessed 30/05/2019).

University of Glasgow, Mackintosh Architecture, M189 Windyhill, Kilmacolm, https://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/freetext/display/?rs=4&xml=des&q=windyhill (accessed 31/05/2019).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 05:05