Holmwood House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Holmwood House |
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Holmwood House
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Town or city | Glasgow |
| Country | Scotland |
| Construction started | 1857 |
| Completed | 1858 |
| Cost | £3,682 |
| Client | James Couper |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | masonry |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Alexander Thomson |
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Listed Building – Category A
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| Official name | 61, 63 Netherlee Road, "Holmwood" |
| Designated | 17 June 1967 |
| Reference no. | LB33944 |
Holmwood House is a beautiful and fancy house in Glasgow, Scotland. It was designed by a famous Scottish architect named Alexander Thomson, who was sometimes called "Greek" Thomson because he loved Greek style buildings. This house is special because it still has many of its original decorations inside, and you can visit it! It's looked after by the National Trust for Scotland, which is a charity that protects important places.
Many experts believe Holmwood's design was very important. Its plans were published in a book in 1868. Some think these plans might have even influenced famous architects like Frank Lloyd Wright later on.
Contents
Building Holmwood House
Holmwood House was built for James Couper between 1857 and 1858. Mr. Couper owned a paper factory nearby called Millholm paper mill. The house was designed so that its main rooms had a great view of Cathcart Castle, which isn't there anymore.
The house cost about £2,600 to build. The coach house, greenhouse, and other small buildings cost another £1,000. This was a lot of money back then!
Inside the House
The inside of Holmwood House was decorated with many different colors and patterns. This style is called polychromatic decoration. The designs were created by Thomson himself and painted by artists named Campbell Tait Bowie.
One of the most amazing parts is the dining room. It has a special border around the top of the walls called a frieze. This frieze shows pictures based on John Flaxman's drawings for Homer's famous story, the Iliad. The fireplace in the hall also has sculptures made by George Mossman.
Changes Over Time
Over the years, Holmwood House saw some changes. In the 1920s, an owner named James Gray made some alterations. After World War II, a vet named James McElhone and his family lived there.
Later, a group of nuns, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, bought the house. They painted over many of the original colorful decorations with plain paint. The small house where the gardener lived was taken down in the 1970s. The land around Holmwood and a nearby house was used to build a Catholic primary school.
Saving Holmwood House
In the early 1990s, the nuns decided to sell the property. There was a worry that the land would be used to build new houses. This would have spoiled the beautiful setting of Holmwood House.
Luckily, after a big effort, the National Trust for Scotland bought Holmwood in 1994. They received a lot of help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The house was then carefully restored by Page\Park Architects between 1997 and 1998. They worked to bring back the house to how it looked originally, even rebuilding some parts and removing the changes from the 1920s. Experts like Patrick Baty helped figure out the original paint colors.
Holmwood on a Banknote
In 1999, Glasgow was named the UK City of Architecture and Design. To celebrate this, the Clydesdale Bank put a picture of Holmwood House on a special £20 banknote. The note showed the dome of Holmwood House along with another famous Glasgow building, The Lighthouse. On the other side of the note was a picture of the architect, Alexander Thomson himself.
Another Holmwood House
Did you know there's another house called 'Holmwood' far away in North Walkerville, Adelaide, Australia? It was built in 1885 for a rich person named William Austin Horn. This house was also based on Alexander Thomson's designs, which were published in the same book as the Glasgow Holmwood House plans. Even though it looks similar, the inside rooms are arranged differently.
See also
- List of Category A listed buildings in Glasgow
- Millbrae Crescent
