The Bathroom
Hill House / 4
“White painted tongue and groove boarding clads all the walls, unifies the space, and makes the bathroom feel dead cosy.”
The bathroom at the Hill House is a proper bathroom, the exposed plumbing says it all. With its nickel-plated surface-mounted pipe work; a walk-in needle-jet shower; and a deep vitreous ceramic bath, it really does do what it says. And handsomely.
Bathrooms were pretty much a new concept back at the beginning of the last century, in fact plumbing in any home barely existed; and to have walk-in shower too – well, that was unheard of. Charles Rennie Mackintosh made sure that the Hill House was kitted out with the latest fixtures and fittings when it came to bathrooms, water closets and the service areas.
The bath and shower were supplied by Shanks & Co of Barrhead, and it’s understood that Mackintosh may also have had some small hand in their design. The shower has four taps, one of which is labelled ‘needles’ – this operated directional jets of water, that would spring from the hoop-like arrangement of pipes.
The shallow bracketed shelf that runs around the room at high wainscot level is as much a design feature as it is a practical shelf – and there’s some charming detail in the way the little wall-mounted shaving mirror interrupts the shelf line. The wash basin with its scrolled ironwork bracket is a surprise – as here is a small nod to Victorianism, a wee too fancy for Mackintosh. A practical white painted cork-topped chair sits beside the basin, and was another essential in early twentieth century bathrooms – yet may well be a later addition.
Another unique feature of the bathroom is the super-large towel rail, which is original to the house and would have been centrally heated by one of the coal fires. White painted tongue and groove boarding clads all the walls, unifies the space, and makes the bathroom feel dead cosy.
For more on the Hill House, its rebirth, and today’s recognition of Mackintosh, please do read our further posts by tapping on the icons below.
