Helensburgh’s most popular visitor attraction is open to the public once more – but the Hill House now looks like it’s never looked before at any time in its 115-year history.

And while the property’s owners, the National Trust for Scotland, hope that the giant Box – a steel frame surrounded on all four sides by a chain-mail ‘mesh’ to protect the building from any further weather damage – will attract new visitors to the world-famous house, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and completed in 1904, they are far from resting on their laurels as they start work on a solution to protect the property in the longer term.

READ MORE: Neil Oliver thanks Hill House donors as 'Box' nears completion

Speaking at a special preview event last Thursday evening for those who have helped with the cost of the work so far, Richard Williams, the Trust’s general manager for Glasgow and the west of Scotland, said: “The real work starts now.

“We’ve had to keep the house closed while the Box was being built, but thanks to the efforts of the last few months, we can now keep it open through all the work that is to come.”

The box itself, as well as the 32.4 million chain-mail rings, also includes a series of walkways giving the public a chance to view the house, and future conservation work from around and up to 15 metres above ground level.

READ MORE: Work starts on £4.5 million Hill House rescue bid

“I think we’ve built a fantastic icon for people to come and admire,” Mr Williams continued, “and it’s something that the house, a fantastic masterpiece itself, deserves.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming you back and telling the story of this wonderful house for many years to come.”