Baillie Scott

Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1865-1945) was a leading and influential architect and designer of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, who adhered to the philosophy that good design should be made available to everyone. Based on Diane Haigh’s much praised and successful Baillie Scott: the Artistic House, which featured a charming and vivid portrait of the architect in the context of his time and his contemporaries by John Betjeman, this book is not only updated with new information, but it is now illustrated with full colour photography and architectural drawings.

While Baillie Scott was mainly an architect of country houses and gardens, he also explored the grouping of houses and contributed to Hampstead Garden Suburb, as well as designing distinctive furniture and a great diversity of decorative details, including joinery, stained glass and embroidery. He was innovative in his spatial planning and was one of the first architects to develop open-plan living arrangements, in common with his American contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). These aspects of his work are covered in a clear, engaging and insightful way.

The book also includes a large new section on Baillie Scott’s own writings, including extracts from his highly influential book Houses and Gardens (1906). Other extracts discuss the influence of William Morris, Baillie Scott’s views on Modernism, asides on designing for servants and heights of windowsills, as well as two sets of correspondence – the first with the German critic Hermann Muthesius, and the second with a client who built an English country house in Switzerland. Throughout, Baillie Scott writes with good sense, careful thought and humour, and these pieces are still extremely relevant. Each of the extracts include William Fawcett’s informative commentary.

Diane Haigh (1949-2022) was a conservation architect, director of studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and author of Baillie Scott: the Artistic House (1995). Dr William Fawcett is an architect and writer and Chair of Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd. They were in architectural practice together and restored seven Baillie Scott houses.