A Canadian MacGregor Who Bought A Scottish Estate & Barony
Castle Lee in Scotland comes with a feudal title and an enormous price tag, centuries of history, and a twist: The last owner was a Canadian MacGregor. When Mr. Peter was in his twenties, he moved to Toronto and founded the Canadian operations of a fortune 500 electronics firm.
The late owner started life as Leslie Peters, (a common MacGregor pseudonym). After he made a pile of money on nursing homes and electronics, he bought Castle Lee in Lanarkshire in southern Scotland, and became Baron Peters of Lee. And the Canadian flag has been flying front and centre for years.
The original Castle Lee was built as a no-nonsense strong point by Symon Locard (later Lockheart, and eventually Lockhart) in the early 1300s. It was thoroughly rebuilt in the Gothic style 1817 to make it more liveable. Here's what a visitor described shortly afterwards.
"It is an extensive building, of a square castellated form, having circular embattled turrets at each corner and an embattled parapet at top. Form the centre of the building, a large square embattled tower, lighted with twelve very beautiful old English windows, rises above the other parts to a considerable height and adds greatly to the grandeur of the effect.
The central portion of the east front rises a little higher than the rest, projects beyond the line of the wall and thus the appearance of another strongly embattled tower. The principal entrance is in the lower part of this tower and immediately over it there is a square window, ornamented with a deep molding, which lights the entrance hall. The building is surrounded with a high, broad terrace, without any parapet, covered on the top with gravel and formed into a walk."
The original owner who built the place was knighted by Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce is said to have signed a charter with the English under an Oak tree on the grounds. Oliver Cromwell is reported to have visited the estate. All this history probably brings images of leaky old pipes and clammy stone architecture but he entire edifice was . There is a jacuzzi, sauna and indoor swimming pool; a fake gothic bedroom in a turret, and a large business meeting room called the Canam Room (as in Canadian-American, named for the last owner's two main places of business) and is decorated with Canadianna such as the medallions of Canada's Prime Ministers. Six of the 14 bedrooms have ensuite bathrooms or showers and has central heating.
Some of the rooms: The Bonnie Prince Charlie Conference Room, Tartan Gallery Corridor, and Mary Queen of Scots Bedroom. The Castle comes with 104 hectares (260 acres) of rolling partly wooded land.
British law doesn't allow titles such as "baron" to be bought and sold -- with exceptions for Scottish ones. In this case, the title of baron comes with the castle. The present asking price is said to be around C$14 million.
