House for an Art Lover

You're never far from the influence of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow, but nowhere is more redolent of it than the alluringly named House for an Art Lover, situated just outside the city centre in leafy Bellahouston Park. Mackintosh came up with the plan for the house in 1901, as an entry for a design competition in a German magazine, but in fact the building was not actually realised until 1996. Only the exterior of the building is based on his designs, along with the layout of the interior rooms, although the marvellous double-height main hall is based upon his drawings. Much of the rest is conjecture, but it's well done, in a sympathetic style, with items of Mackintosh furniture alongside regular exhibitions of decorative objects by various artists. There is a lovely café and shop, and it's a wedding venue too.