Charles AND Margaret

I was up in Scotland this month, visiting friends in Helensburgh. Their lovely house is nearby The Hill House, the famous Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed home, now managed by National Trust Scotland. We've been there several times now and are always delighted by Mackintosh's genius use of space and light to make very room feel like an event, every time you step in. Would it retain that power, do you think, if you lived there permanently? For the first time, we also visited another Mackintosh gem, the House for an Art Lover. This one was designed by Mackintosh and his equally talented wife Margaret Macdonald, as a competition entry to a German design magazine in 1900. Mackintosh didn't win the award and so the house wasn't actually built but his design portfolio was re-discovered and the house was built in 1990s, out at Bellahouston Park, just outside the town centre in Glasgow. It's a fine exhibition now of decorative interior design within those stark, typically Mackintosh walls. And so very pleasing to see Margaret getting her fair share of  the action - much interpretation of her skills and flair and especially her use of beautiful colours. I love that their collaboration made the magic happen. More Mackintosh yet to see - I'll fix to re-visit Glasgow next year......