100 Buildings 100 Years

1919: 78 Derngate, Northampton

Status: Listed Grade II*
Condition: Good condition
Type: Housing
Architect: Charles Rennie Mackintosh (remodelled)
Location: 78 Derngate, Northampton NN1 1UH

78 Derngate, a terraced house in Northampton, was dramatically remodelled into a building of international importance by the Glasgow architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  Commissioned by the thoroughly modern businessman W J Bassett-Lowke, 78 Derngate was the only English house Mackintosh designed which came to fruition.

Mackintosh’s alterations begin with an impressive front door leading directly into the hall/lounge.  This is an entrance designed to impress.  The overall scheme is black and yellow with the walls decorated in a striking stencil of stylised trees complemented by a stair screen containing panels of decorative leaded glass.

The guest bedroom is the second dazzling showpiece of the house.  Black and white stripes bordered with blue run up the walls and across the ceiling.  The furniture is edged in a black band stencilled with small blue squares.

The extension to the back of this extraordinary house has been seen as a precursor to the modern movement.

by Trustees of 78 Derngate

Listing description

78 Derngate