Tag: museum

  • The Hill House by Charlie Macintosh

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    After a day of strolling around Glasgow I picked up my rental car and started driving towards Oban for my first ferry – but already had planned to stop at The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow.

    Commissioned by Glasgow book publisher Walter Blackie, up-and-coming architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and artist Margaret Macdonald worked collaboratively to create almost everything you see here, from the building itself to the furniture and textiles. (National Trust Scotland)

    The first view of the Hill House was a view of a box! This transparent porous “box” was added around the house around 2019 to protect the building and help it to dry out again.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    Walter Blackie purchased the grounds in 1902 for his future family home, he then commissioned the up-and-coming architect Charlie Macintosh – The Hill House was completed in 1904 and is considered Machintosh’s domestic masterpiece.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    Mackintosh believed that to design a home properly he had to understand the needs of its occupants, so he spent a great deal of time with the Blackie family during the project’s initial stage to ensure his proposal suited their lifestyle. (dezeen.com)

    Blackie later described the process that they designed from the inside out. Macintosh observed how the family and also the staff would use the house and what they would need.

    The building displays typical Mackintosh influences, with a robust exterior referencing Scottish vernacular architecture, contrasting with a highly ornamental interior, featuring oriental themes alongside art-nouveau and art-deco details. (dezeen.com)

    Macintosh and his wife the artist Margaret MacDonald designed almost every element of the house, from the architecture to the furniture, fireplaces, lighting and textiles.

    Margaret was an established artist before they met, and helped to define the Mackintosh style. From the embroidered hangings in the main bedroom to the ‘Sleeping Princess’ panel above the fireplace in the drawing room, Margaret was responsible for some of the house’s most famous features. (National Trust for Scotland)

    But Blackie couldn´t afford to finish the interior entirely according to Mackintosh’s designs, so the architect focused on the main spaces of the hallway, library, master bedroom and drawing room.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    It is a play of light and dark as well as masculine and feminine. From the masculine dark rooms like the library and entrance to the bright feminine rooms like the master bedroom and the drawing room, making the most of the natural light.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    Charles and Margaret’s style was avant-garde, and some people criticised the lack of colour. Walter Blackie’s daughter, Ruth, preferred to describe it as ‘an unfussiness’. (National Trust for Scotland)

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    Macintosh was ahead of his time in Britain, even though he was greatly admired in Europe. There were exhibitions of his work in Vienna and he used to be in contact with Josef Hoffmann. But the Hill House never received the glowing reviews that would help Mackintosh continue his ground-breaking work. After a few more commissions in Glasgow Macintosh moved to London and designed book covers for Walter Blackie. Later he spent time in France and painted watercolours.

    It was not until the late 1920s and 30s that the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh began to be appreciated more widely. But for Charles it was too late. After years of ill health, he died in London in December 1928, aged 60. (National Trust for Scotland)

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Blackie family continued to live in the Hill House and cherished their unique home until the upkeep with the water ingress problems became too hard and they gave the house to the National Trust of Scotland in the 1980s.

    The house was mainly built out of Portland cement which just isn´t suitable for the Scottish weather and there were many problems with water ingress. In 2017 a study of the house showed that the water damages were so big that the whole structure was at risk. The National Trust of Scotland started a ten-year project to save the Hill House. An enormous see-through structure was designed by London architecture studio Carmody Groarke to protect the house from the wind and rain.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    Stairs along the box and gangways now offer us truly special views of the house – you can even walk over the rooftop and admire it from all sides.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House in Helensburgh near Glasgow designed by Charlie Macintosh.

    The Hill House is surrounded by a stunning garden and there is also a coffee house – I would definitely recommend visiting this former residential home. It was fun to see influences that might have come from Macintosh’s visits to Vienna.

     

     

  • Gearrannan Blackhouse Village

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    The Gearrannan Blackhouse village was definitely high on my must-visit list and after seeing the blackhouses in Arnol, I wanted more and spent the rest of the day at the Gearrannan village near Carloway.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    This settlement of blackhouses facing the Atlantic gives us an impression of how life was in Lewis. “Modern life” is compared to the Iron Age settlement at the nearby Dun Carloway. Gearrannan dates back to the 17th century—the houses we see today date back to the late 1800s.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Life was hard, people had to go far away to make ends meet. While men travelled up to Virginia for the whaling season, the women…

    In May 1920, as part of an annual cycle, seven teams of three women from the village left for Stornoway to process fish. They then followed the herring to the east coast of Scotland then down to eastern England, only returning home at the end of the season. (Undiscovered Scotland)

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Life in the village only changed slowly. Inside the museum blackhouse, we see a bedroom and a lounge dating from the mid-1900s.

    In Gearrannan, oil lamps were replaced by electricity from 1952, and in the 1960s piped water arrived in the village, though it still had to be fetched from outside taps. This brought to an end the tradition of communal washing of heavier laundry in the loch, with water heated over open fires on the shore. And from 1965 a daily milk delivery started, ending the need to keep a cow and grow the crops to feed it. (Undiscovered Scotland)

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    We find a loom at the end of the house, including some weaving demonstration.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    By the 1970s most had left for easier accommodations nearby, and only five residents had remained in Gearrannan. But the very last resident then left in 1974 and Gearrannan became a ghost village of the past!

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Lucky for us the Urras nan Gearrannan (the Garenin Trust) has been restoring the derelict blackhouses and surrounding areas since 1989 to recreate an authentic settlement with modern facilities.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    There is a shop and café for visitors and villagers and you could even stay in the village. Some of the blackhouses are available as holiday lets sleeping between 2 to 16 people and there is also a hostel.

    It must be lovely to be awakened by the waves and enjoy the village before the day visitors arrive and after they leave.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    After a lovely lunch provided by the café, I continued exploring the village. Walked down to the beach and up the hill. The view from the hill over the village was probably my favourite one.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Peeking into one of the guesthouses.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

    Visiting the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

     

     

     

  • Real Bosco di Capodimonte

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    The view from my Airbnb in Naples never let me down! The next morning I woke up, had some coffee and made my way through the Quarteri Spagnoli in direction of the Castel Nuovo. From there I wanted to take a bus up to the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte.

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel, Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    My favourite fruttivendolo just around the corner from my apartment.

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    I met some demonstrations, this was number one with mostly students in front of the Municipio.

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    Found the Castel Nuovo, the bus that would bring me to the Real Bosco di Capodimonte and another demonstration. It was a busy day for Naples!

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    Real Bosco di Capodimonte

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    The vast collection at the museum traces its origins back to 1738. During that year King Charles VII of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III, king of Spain) decided to build a hunting lodge on the Capodimonte hill, but then decided that he would instead build a grand palace,…to house the fabulous Farnese art collection which he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, last descendant of the sovereign ducal family of Parma. (Wikipedia)

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    Later on, the collection was getting bigger and bigger, the palace had to be enlarged. Today you could probably spend a few days at the museum to explore everything. It´s way too much for a single visit!

    The Capodimonte Museum boasts 47,000 works of art that form one of the largest and most complex collections of medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary art in the world. In 126 galleries spread across 151,000 square feet, works of the great artists are exhibited such as: Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Simone Martini, Giovanni Bellini, Colantonio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jusepe de Ribera, Battistello, Luca Giordano, Mattia Preti, Francesco Solimena, the Carracci, Guido Reni, Lanfranco, Bruegel the Elder, and Van Dyck to name a few. (Arts & Culture)

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,

    The museum is surrounded by a vast park and offers an amazing view over the bay of Naples. Even more dramatic with a rain front coming in all of the sudden!

    Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,Palace of Capodimonte, napoli, naples, italy, photos an dthe city, city, museum, people, old, beauty, travel,