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elleng

(130,147 posts)
Wed Aug 31, 2016, 02:07 AM Aug 2016

A 600-Year-Old Money Pit in the Scottish Highlands

ISLE OF MULL, Scotland — Anyone who has despaired over home improvement should spare a thought for Sir Lachlan Hector Charles Maclean of Duart and Morven.

The Scottish lord has been repairing his home since he inherited it from his father in 1990, with no end in sight.

His is no ordinary house. Rather, it is a crumbling 14th-century castle — with a dungeon — that has collapsed ceilings and rainwater seeping through its 16-foot-thick walls pretty much all of the time — even during summer, which can be exceedingly wet and blustery in Scotland.

The cost of repairs? So far, 1.5 million pounds, or $1.94 million, and counting.

Located on the Isle of Mull, off the western coast of Scotland, his home, Duart Castle, is the ancestral seat of the Macleans, one of the oldest clans in the Scottish Highlands. The 74-year-old chatelain’s ancestors have been involved in centuries of battles pitting Catholics against Protestants and the Scottish against the English in rivalries that still resonate.

“What does one do with a property like this?” Sir Lachlan, the 28th chief of the clan, asked rhetorically one recent afternoon as he sipped tea in his living room, probably one of the snugger parts of the castle where he and his wife, Rosie, have retreated, though it was still mildly damp with a whiff of stale curry.

Strong rains lashed against the windows, and the constant buzz of drilling forced him to speak up. The Macleans’ private living room was cluttered with modern bric-a-brac while, just below, tourists tramped about in the stately banquet hall looking at clan paraphernalia and trying to locate a public toilet. There are, in fact, two toilets, but they are both unusable — one put in nearly a century ago, and another 600 years ago.'>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/world/europe/isle-of-mull-scotland-maclean-duart-castle.html?

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A 600-Year-Old Money Pit in the Scottish Highlands (Original Post) elleng Aug 2016 OP
Been there and met Sir Lachlan. sinkingfeeling Aug 2016 #1
WOW! elleng Aug 2016 #2
If only those walls could talk. robertpaulsen Aug 2016 #3
You're welcome. It's a fine place, elleng Aug 2016 #4

elleng

(130,147 posts)
2. WOW!
Wed Aug 31, 2016, 01:04 PM
Aug 2016

Shared this because I've been to Scotland and would like to return, but didn't get near this place!

robertpaulsen

(8,632 posts)
3. If only those walls could talk.
Wed Aug 31, 2016, 02:59 PM
Aug 2016

Thanks for sharing this! I've never been to Scotland myself, but I've had friends and relatives tell me how wonderful it is.

elleng

(130,147 posts)
4. You're welcome. It's a fine place,
Wed Aug 31, 2016, 03:02 PM
Aug 2016

the people are lovely, the landscapes great, and rainbows every day (in the right places.)

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