I have wanted to visit “House for an Art Lover” for some time and what with all this lovely weather, I thought now would be a great time to see the house in the sunshine. The house did not disappoint and neither did the grounds. My girls loved it too. There is also a great play park and that’s where we had our picnic.
For those of you that don’t know ‘House for an Art Lover’ is a Rennie Mackintosh House. He originally designed the house in 1901 for a competition for a German design magazine the brief being to create “An Art Lovers House”
Mackintosh designed the house with his very talented wife Margaret Macdonald. The competition stated that it would be '..desirable that an Architect and a Decorative Artist of modern tastes develop and submit the design jointly’, a situation which more than suited Mackintosh and Macdonald.
The magical thing is that this house was only built 22 years ago. Graham Roxburgh, the Consulting Engineer responsible for restoring Mackintosh interiors in nearby Craigie Hall, had the idea to finally build the House for an Art Lover.
The combination of Margaret Macdonald and Rennie Mackintosh in this house is beautiful. The feminine and masculine forms in the house work alongside each other. The contrast of light and dark and the way the outside is brought inside. This is done through Margaret’s artwork and Rennie’s use of light. It is full of their imaginings.
I thoroughly recommend a visit to House for an Art Lover.
