The Tenement House (National Trust for Scotland) — Attraction in Scotland

I was very taken by this Scottish National Trust site, which I have wanted to visit for a while. If walking from the bus station or Queen Street station, approach it from the west end of Saugiehall Street, just before the M8 - otherwise you'll have a bit of a climb up Renfrew Street

The unprepossessing exterior of the house in Buccleuch Street hides a fascinating interior, set as it was a century or more back. These privately rented flats were not built by the municipality but by landlords, and to quite a good, solid standard with quite spacious rooms. They were rented more to middle class tenants and not to very poor people - as tends to be thought when people hear the word 'tenement'. The brown interiors and furnishing look very old fashioned by modern standards, but look warm and homely, with rugs on floorboards, alcove cupboard beds in each room and solid wooden furniture.

The story of the owner, who eventually bought the property and donated it to the Trust is an interesting one, well fleshed out by the very well informed and friendly guide who worked very hard to set the scene and make the site a most interesting (and dare I say 'educational') place to visit. I liked that the guide didn't deliver a prepared spiel, but answered questions in some detail, and engaged with the visitors. She was obviously very interested in the place herself, and the enthusiasm came through clearly.

It is small, takes about an hour to see the 4 rooms properly, with a lot to see, with additional rooms used to tell the story of the tenements and an exhibition about the owners holidays from the complete records she kept. There's also a charming little cafe and a gift shop.

My only complaint was I would have liked to see even more! Heartily recommended. Charming, memorable and...

I just went there with my service dog, I just moved to Glasgow and I want to know the city, the history, everything, but when I arrived there trying to do the tour inside the tenement house, well the girl in reception said to me dogs are not allowed, I have to her the badge, my service dog with the harness where clearly says SERVICE DOG and she gave me the look and said “ehhh… I need to ask my manager because is just for guide dogs”, and me again saying and showing the badge “that’s a service dog” in a very polite way, the girl like looking at me in a very discriminatory way started to “mmmm…” and expressed like she doesn’t believe it. I have a question, why if you work in costumer service, in a kind of museum, historical place, why do you have to give that actitud to people? And why discriminate disabled people? Don’t you know no all disabilities are visible? Even if she acted like she was going to allow me inside I didn’t wanted anymore, why do I have to go through all of that, feeling horrible with myself, like I’m broken for you to allow me going inside? Which by the way is not free, of course you have to pay, which I’m ok, so is not like you are giving things for free and you are choosing to who you wanted to give them, no, you are paying, for what? For people making you feel bad? No thank you! The tenement house is def a...

The house contains a cache of items from 1911 to 1965 that belonged to the previous owner, Miss Agnes Toward. Each room is laid out how she would have lived in it, from her homemade jam in the cupboard to the sewing machine that she used as a dressmaker. There are only six rooms to visit. Two on the entrance floor explain how Tenement houses were used and how the National Trust came to own the property. On the next floor, the four rooms are the actual areas where she lived. There is also a room that contains replica items you can handle and a children's information area. All rooms were very interesting and well laid out. There is a cafe and a small souvernir shop. Prices were reasonable. If you are planning on eating in the cafe, check the opening times as sometimes it closes earlier than the rest of the property. Staff were very welcoming and happy to chat. There are toilets on the ground floor. There is no disabled access to the property. There are 15 steps to the entrance and further steps to the rooms. The rooms are small and full of items, so it would not be possible to move a wheelchair around. Original gas lighting is used, so some rooms had...