Introduction
Holmwood House forms part of Scotland’s extensive architectural heritage. This is an architectural gem located in Netherlee Road, Glasgow, West of Scotland.
Information on the building
This high status residential property was designed by local architect, Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson (1817-75). Client was James Couper, a wealthy businessman who used the property for both business and residential purposes, as was common in those days. Construction occurred between 1857-8 when Glasgow was experiencing rapid economic growth.
Architect Thomson drew his inspiration from ancient Greek and Egyptian sources supplemented by Assyrian and Hindu decoration.
The property is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. This is a not-for-profit heritage organisation which has expended considerable sums restoring the property to its original state.
Holmwood is considered Thomson’s finest and most elaborate villa. It is designed in the Greek style asymmetrically and incorporating a wall that connects the main house with the coach house. This is a feature associated with designs of Lutyens and Frank Lloyd Wright. There is a building of the same name, inspired by Thomson’s design, in North Walkerville, Adelaide, South Australia.
During his early career Thomson experimented with various styles including Italian Romanesque, Scottish Baronial and even Gothic. It was later in his career that Thomson championed the superiority of the Greek ideal over the Medievalism then fashionable in England.
More information on Thomason’s work in Glasgow
Here is a listing of the principal extant buildings by Thomson which can be seen in the Glasgow conurbation.
Glasgow City Centre
The St. Vincent Street Church (1857-59), Corner of St. Vincent Street and Pitt Street. This is the only surviving intact church by Thomson.
Grecian Buildings (1867-68) 336-356 Sauchiehall Street/Scott Street. Originally a commercial warehouse but now the centre for Contemporary Arts.
West Nile Street Warehouse (1858). 99-107 West Nile Street. A small commercial building in an abstracted Greek style.
Gordon Street Warehouse (1858-59).68-80 Gordon Street. Features a façade full of subtleties and distinctive ornament.
Egyptian Halls (1870-72) (84-100 Union Street). Named after the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London
Bucks Head Building (1863), 59-61 Argyle Street & Dunlop Street. A commercial building in which the cast iron construction is expressed externally.
Beattie Monument( 1867), the Necropolis. A monument to a Church Minister comprising a pylon topped with a beautiful urn rising from a base of Cyclopean masonry.
West End of Glasgow
Eton Terrace (1862-64), 41-53 Oakfield Avenue/great George Street. A terrace with ends made prominent with pedimented temple-fronts and square columns.
The Sixty Steps (1872), Kelvinside Terrace West & Queen Margaret’s Place. A monumental flight of steps connecting with a now demolished bridge across the River Kelvin.
Great Western Terrace (1867-77), Great Western Road. A grand terrace with the taller houses in the middle.
South Side of Glasgow
Caledonia Road Church (1856-57), Cathcart Road and Hospital Street. This was Thomson’s first church but now a forlorn ruin.
Walmer Crescent (1857-62), Paisley Road West above Cessnock subway station. This represents one of Thomson’s few surviving tenements.
Moray Place (1859-61), 1-10 Moray Place, Strathbungo. A terrace of ten small houses where repetition and unity is everything. Thomson lived and died at No 1 Moray Place.
Millbrae Crescent (1876-77), 2-38 Millbrae Crescent, Langside. Completed posthumously by Thomson’s partner, Robert Turnbull
Visiting the site
Holmwood House is located about four miles south of Central Station. It is best to arrange private transport owing to paucity of public transport which connects with the site.
Check website for opening times.
