The Black House

The ‘Black House’ deserved its name – it was built of stone from the Black Stone quarry, which was once between St George’s Road and North Woodside Road in northern Glasgow. This house represents one of the better known buildings made with stone from the quarry. It was built on the corner of Queen Street (Cow Lone) and Argyle Street (West Gait) for the McCall family.

Some accounts record it being built for Samuel McCall (1681-1759) in 1753, and others for his son, John McCall (1715-1790) in 1776 or 1777. There are no family papers which can verify either account, nor give the name of the architect and builders.

If it was the latter, and dated to the 1770s, John McArthur’s map of Glasgow from 1778 gives its location, but also places the house into the broader context of how Glasgow’s New Town was developing along Queen Street. John McCall’s house was complemented by those owned by his brother George further along the street, as well as his business partner James Ritchie of Craigton and Busby. Other eminent neighbours included William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, Robert Bogle of Shettleston and then John Glassford of Douglaston and Alexander Speirs of Elderslie.

The location and style of the property indicated that the McCall family were among Glasgow’s elite businessmen  – the famed Virginia Dons, or Tobacco Lords. They all lived next door to one another.  At the top of Queen Street, John McCall could call upon his business partner, John Glassford, who lived on the site of the prestigious Shawfield Mansion, or his bank partner in the Thistle Bank (Sir Walter Maxwell of Pollok, James Ritchie and Co), James Ritchie living on Queen Street itself. The Black House introduced a street of prestigious house architecture.