Helensburgh, to the west of Glasgow was settled by businessmen whose wealth came from the industrialised city. In 1902, Walter Blackie of the publishers Blackie and Son purchased a plot on which to build a new home. At the suggestion of Talwin Morris, Mackintosh was appointed to design and build Hill House. Blackie was surprised at the youthfulness of the architect, but after visiting other houses Mackintosh had designed, was convinced he was the right person to build the house. Blackie stipulated no bricks and plaster or wood beam construction, and no red-tiled roof, as traditional in the west of Scotland. Instead, Blackie asked for grey rough cast walls, and a slate roof; and that architectural effects ought to be secured by the massing of the parts rather than ornamentation. The requirements and non-traditional taste of the client allowed Mackintosh full rein for his design ideas.