As a very late entry for Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge : Metal & Wood, I’m posting 3 photos taken from the now derelict and fire damaged Leslie House, near Glenrothes. This magnificent building used to be the home of the Dukes of Rothes from 1670, and in it’s prime was said to rival Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, for both its size and glamour.
The first two photos are of the main entrance gates, which open up onto the tree lined drive to the front entrance of Leslie House (third photo). I’ve included a fourth photo, which shows the front of the house before the latest fire practically destroyed it.
Metal gates prior to wooded drive to now derelict Leslie House
Metal gate before the wooded drive to now derelict Leslie House
Derelict and fire damaged Leslie House and tree lined drive, with metal fence
Leslie House before the fire. Photo by Giorces
Fife Photos & Art 
Such a shame! Are they going to demolish it, or can anything be rescued?
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It is a terrible shame Anabel. The fire was in 2009, a company had bought it and were converting it into luxury old peoples apartments. I think it’s beyond repair now, it’s literally just a shell. We heard only a few days ago, that the police want it boarded up, but they can’t locate who now owns it, so it just remains this derelict shell.
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Funny how these things seem to happen so often….
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I’ve since dug a little deeper into it Anabel, and it turns out that they know who owns it now, but this company wants to build new houses on the land, but the council are refusing permission, unless the original house is restored. I personally think the fire was arson, but that’s as I say, just my personal feeling on it.
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Yes, I was rather hinting that myself – have seen such things before.
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I thought that was probably what you thought Anabel 🙂 Unfortunately, there appears to be no actual proof though. It just seems so suspicious that the building should have been so totally destroyed by a fire 😦 Still, in the end, at least no one was hurt in the blaze! 🙂
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What a pity that gorgeous place was destroyed! I wonder what happened there?
I do love the stone and metal entrance and as always you took amazing shots Andy. Thanks for sharing. 😀
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Thanks Sophia 🙂 It was destroyed in 2009, we suspect it was for an insurance scam, but that is only a guess! It’s never been officially explained as to how it happened 😦
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Such a pity and yes, that sounds about right. Lots of people did it those days, even here. Maybe we’ll never know. Secrets like that stays hidden. 😀
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Unfortunately, I suspect you’re right Sophia, and the secret of what really happened to the house will remain just that, a secret 😦
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I’d never heard of this, Andy – when was it damaged by fire? I am guessing it must have been only recently.
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Sorry for the delay in answering your question Jo.
It was virtually totally destroyed by a fire in 2009, the second major fire in its history. The original Leslie House used to have four wings, but 3 of these were destroyed in 1763. The latest fire occurred just as the conversion of the House to Luxury apartments was nearing it’s completion. I’ve always suspected some sort of insurance fraud, and from looking at some info on it recently, I may be right. It appears that at least one other company is interested in the land to build houses on, but they would only get that permission if Leslie House was restored back to it’s former glory. That now looks like an impossible task – I won’t be surprised if it’s pulled down in the next 10 years, and a whole load of modern housing put up in its place 😦 😦
Hopefully all that makes sense.
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Oh no! What a dilemma, for such a wonderful old house. Thanks for the background info, Andy! Very interested to learn about this place.
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Such a great entry for this week’s challenge. 😀
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Thank you Cee 🙂
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It’s so sad what happened to Leslie House. I know my parents had high hopes for the place having life breathed into it again before the fire all but destroyed it. Sad.
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It is very sad Laura. It was clearly an amazing place – I thought at the time it was a shame it was being converted into luxury modern apartments, but the fire was even worse!!! The comment I left on Jo’s comment explains what I think about the whole sorry mess!
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Yes, my family also suspect it was an insurance fraud that motivated the fire. Such ugly, destructive behaviour. I’m sure nobody will be made to reckon for it either.
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Unfortunately Laura, I think you are probably right 😦
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How absolutely dreadful, and it sounds like it there had been fires before?
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It is awful Gilly!! There was another fire in 1763, which destroyed the other three wings of this grand old house (it used to have four wings and a central courtyard!).
I love seeing these old houses restored to their former glory (even though I disagree to some extent as to what they represented), they are part of our historical heritage!
Have you ever been to Lanhydrock House near St Austell? That has to be my favourite, especially the kitchens which are really interesting! 🙂
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What a great shame, another great house lost, but I like the fact that you have recorded it with your photos, I hope they keep the wonderful gates 🙂
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Thank you Lynne 🙂 I hope like you, that whatever happens, they keep the amazing entrance, to this sad shell of a building!
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Great selection, Andy!
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Thank you Vonita 🙂
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Historical sites should be preserved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Leslie,_1st_Duke_of_Rothes
Can you meet their descendants ? 🙂
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Thank you very much for the link Martina 🙂
I looked into where the descendants have ended up, and I think they now all live in America 😦
But even if they still lived here in the UK, it would be unlikely that they live locally! 🙂
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Interesting. If i find them in America, i will let you know 🙂
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Thank you Martina 🙂
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You’re welcome Andy 🙂
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Wow that looks so beautiful! The gates are amazing! Love these pictures!
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Thanks Lynz 🙂 The gates are amazing!
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yes they look amazing! Very old and fancy!
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Very sad. I’d like to say it’s my ancestral home (being a Leslie and all), but so far I haven’t found any aristocrats hiding away amongst my more humble Leslie ancestors.
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It would be a really nice thought Su, but unfortunately Leslie House was the ancestral home of the Rothes family. Sorry if that just burst your bubble of hope about having some rich unknown relative who may leave a mansion to you at some point!! LOL! 🙂
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No; I don’t think I have any illusions about illustrious ancestors. I’ve discovered that I’m descended from an extremely long line of agricultural labourers, carters and publicans — with a few likely lads and a couple of scary matriarchs thrown in for good measure.
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LOL!!!! 🙂
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Such a grand and wonderful entrance leading to what was once a beautiful house. Heartbreaking that it has fallen into disrepair.
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It is heartbreaking Joy, it is terrible to see it a just an empty shell now.
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How tragic that such a wonderful old house should have been destroyed in this way. I can’t help but wonder how the fire started. I also wonder whether the house could ever be restored, although the cost would be phenominal! I really love the tree-lined drives of these places, designed to give all approaching visitors an impressive view of the house in all its grandeur. Lovely photos,as always, Andy. 🙂
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Thanks Millie 🙂 It is tragic that the house has been virtually destroyed, I suspect it was done on purpose, even though I don’t think anything has been proved to say as such. I do know that the company that bought the house from the then owners, the Church of Scotland (they were gifted the house by the Rothes family in 1956, to use as an old folks home), were given permission to build other houses on the land, on the condition that they renovated Leslie House to its former glory.
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Arson crossed my mind, and with ‘big business’ involved, who knows? It’s a great tragedy when wonderful buildings of our past are destroyed, however it happens. Thank you for explaining that, Andy.
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It is a tragedy, or even an atrocity Millie, it’s terrible what big business gets away with 😦
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It’s hard to accept that people can do such things for financial gain. 🙂
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It is hard to accept!! But unfortunately, it seems the way of the world these days. Greed supersedes all else 😦
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Very sad… But there are still really lovely people around. I know that is true and I won’t lose faith in humanity just yet. 😉
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That is very true Millie, the wordpress community is sure proof of that 🙂 🙂
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Millie, I think I just accidentally trashed your latest comment 😦 It was about being young and I agree with you, it’s wonderful to see the youth of today, with all their hopes and expectations still to be fulfilled 🙂
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I’ve trashed so many comments, Andy. But they’re easy enough to restore by going into ‘Trash’ in the
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Thanks Millie, I was wondering how to restore it 🙂
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I’ve trashed so many comments, Andy. But they’re easy enough to restore by going into the WP Admin (left hand side) and then into Comments. At the top you will see Spam, Trash etc. Just go into Trash to find the comment you trashed and click on Retsore. You probably know more about this than me, so I’ll shut up now, No worries anyway. I’m justrambling, as always. 🙂
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It was great instructions Millie, one comment has been restored to it’s former glory! 🙂
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‘Forner glory’! Hahaha! But I’m glad you now know how to do that. I had to rely on my blogger daughter to restore the first one I trashed! Louise comes in so handy at times. If not for her, I’d have thrown in the towel months ago.
Now, I’d better get back to commenting on other entries in the flash fiction challenge I participated in yesterday. Happy Christmas to you and the family! (Although I’m sure we’ll talk again before then, unless you are finishing until after the holiday) 😀
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I’m glad you had Louise to help you Millie, we can all thank her for the fact that you didn’t throw in the towel! 🙂
I’ll let you get on Millie 🙂 I’m sure we will run into each other sometime before Christmas Day 🙂
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I’m sure we will, Andy. 🙂
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That was a fine looking building, what a pity it was ruined. Lovely gateway.
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It was a very grand building in it’s heyday Lorna, it was meant to rival Holyrood Palace, both in its size and grandeur – so it is terrible to see just a desolate shell now 😦 The gates are just the inner ones, it has another set of gates (plus gatehouse) at the entrance to the main road.
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