Holmwood House is the finest and most elaborate residential villa designed by the Scottish architect

Alexander "Greek" Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...

. It is also rare in retaining much of its original interior decor, and being open to the public. A

Category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * ...

, the villa is located at 61-63 Netherlee Road,

Cathcart Cathcart ( sco, Kithcart, gd, Coille Chart)
is an are ...

, in the southern suburbs of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, and is owned by the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organi ...

. Holmwood is considered to be immensely influential by several architectural historians, because the design as published in ''Villa and Cottage Architecture: select examples of country and suburban residence recently erected'' in 1868 may have influenced

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

and other proto-modernist architects.

History

Holmwood was constructed for James Couper, a paper manufacturer in 1857–1858. Couper and his brother Robert owned the Millholm paper mill in the valley of the White Water of Cart immediately below the villa. The principal rooms of Holmwood were orientated towards the view of

Cathcart Castle Cathcart Castle was a 15th-century castle, located in what is now Linn Park in the Cathcart area of southern Glasgow, Scotland. The castle was abandoned in the 18th century, and the remaining ruins were pulled down in 1980, leaving only founda ...

(demolished in 1980). The cost of the house was £2,608:4:11d; the coach house, greenhouse & outbuildings cost a further £1,009:19:6d; and the gates an additional £75:2:0d The

polychromatic Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

decoration was designed by Thomson and executed by Campbell Tait Bowie. The most notable survival is in the dining room which has a frieze of panels enlarged from

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...

's illustrations of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...

. The sculpture on the hall chimneypiece was by George Mossman. Holmwood was altered in the 1920s by the owner, James Gray. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was purchased by a local vet, James McElhone and his family, wife Betty and children: Rosemary, James, Helen and Paul. Holmwood was then sold to the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions who obliterated much of the original decoration with plain paint. The gardener's cottage was demolished in the 1970s; the grounds and those of an adjacent villa were used for a Catholic primary school. The nuns put the property on the market in the early 1990s, and there was a danger that the grounds would be developed for housing, destroying the setting of the villa. Following an appeal, Holmwood was acquired by the

in 1994 with the support of £1.5million from the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...

.Holmwood House (Mitchell Library, Glasgow Collection, Bulletin Photographs, 1993)
The Glasgow Story It was restored by Page\Park Architects in 1997–1998. Their work included undoing the 1920s alterations and rebuilding the connecting screen wall to the coach house. Patrick Baty carried out the paint analysis.

City of Architecture and Design

In 1999, the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank ( gd, Banca Dhail Chluaidh) is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank's holding company CYBG would acquire Virgin Money for ...

issued a £20 note to mark Glasgow's celebrations as UK City of Architecture and Design which featured an illustration of the dome of Holmwood House, along with the Lighthouse building on the reverse. The obverse side carried a portrait of Thomson.

Holmwood, South Australia

A second 'Holmwood' was constructed in 1885 for the wealthy mining magnate, benefactor and politician,

William Austin Horn William Austin Horn (1841–1922) was an Australian mining magnate, pastoralist, politician, author, sculptor and philanthropist. Somewhat eccentric, in 1892 he was the donor of a copy of Antonio Canova's Venus, Adelaide's then controversial f ...

, at North Walkerville,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The house was built posthumously from Thomson designs published in ''Villa and Cottage Architecture: select examples of country and suburban residence recently erected'' by Blackie & Son Publishing in 1868. This published work also included other Thomson designs, including his Romanesque Craig Ailey Villa at

Cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

. Although Holmwood was based on Thomson's designs and closely resembles Holmwood House, modifications were made to the internal design making the room layouts significantly different.

References

External links

Alexander Thomson's Holmwood House
Features renderings and photographs of Holmwood House.

* ttp://www.nts.org.uk/Property/31/ Holmwood visitor details on National Trust for Scotland general website
'Scotland’s hidden wonders: Holmwood House, Glasgow by Sofiane Kennouche' in ''The Scotsman'', 22 October 2015
{{Coord, 55.8097, -4.25936, type:landmark, display=title Category A listed buildings in Glasgow Culture in Glasgow National Trust for Scotland properties Alexander Greek Thomson buildings Historic house museums in Glasgow Houses completed in 1858 Listed houses in Scotland 1858 establishments in Scotland

History

City of Architecture and Design

Holmwood, South Australia

See also

References

External links