Guided Building Tours for Glasgow Doors Open Days

Join us for a very special free tour to learn more about the history and design of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, the restoration of this Mackintosh masterpiece, and the visionary Edwardian entrepreneur, Miss Kate Cranston.

Learn about the stories of the tea rooms and experience first-hand the astounding interior design work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald in their commitment to an Art Nouveau ‘total artwork’ approach to the building. The tour includes visits to the ground floor saloons, as well as the lesser accessed Salon de Luxe and Billiard Room.

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Places are limited and booking is essential. If you are unable to attend, please refund your tickets so that others can participate.

To enquire further please contact obraid@nts.org.uk or telephone 0141 204 1903

For information on accessibility please visit https://www.nts.org.uk/accessibility/mackintosh-at-the-willow-accessibility-guide

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DOORSOPEN25 - Guests with full price tickets are eligible to take advantage of a special 20% discount on food and drink. Discount available for a la carte and afternoon tea, excludes alcoholic drinks, tea rooms only, must be prebooked. Venue reserves the right to limit discount use at any given time. Valid only for the day of the talk. Quote DOORSOPEN25 when booking and present ticket at table to take advantage of this offer.

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In 2025 The National Trust for Scotland is partnering with Glasgow Doors Open Days to raise awareness of Mackintosh Illuminated.

In December 2024, The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded a generous £1.1 million package of development funding for Mackintosh Illuminated, a project that will spotlight Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald, sharing, celebrating, and inspiring as many as possible with their creative genius and the beauty of their creations. The project will help make Mackintosh and Macdonald better known and appreciated, internationally and at home, by creating an online learning resource and an expanded programme of property-based community and education work in Helensburgh and Glasgow. The project also encourages more people to visit both sites to get a richer picture of the pair’s skill and versatility. By working in partnership with other Mackintosh stakeholders in Glasgow and more widely, this support will aid in organising celebrations for the 2028 anniversary of Mackintosh’s death and the 160th anniversary of his birth. The funding is also enabling the Trust to continue the vital conservation work at the Hill House, including the full removal of the current render, to find a replacement material which will resolve the longstanding damp issue, remove the Box in 2028 and provide updated, permanent visitor facilities, including a café, shop and toilet facilities at the site on Upper Colquhoun Street in Helensburgh.