Kellie Castle is one of the oldest castles in Scotland but it was neglected for many years until Professor James Lorimer saved it from ruin in 1876. The great Hall had been used as a barn and one of Lorimer's relatives wrote that "It was left to the rooks and owls who built in the crumbling chimneys ....  every pane of glass was broken and swallows built in the coronets in the ceilings." Lorimer made it watertight and renovated much of the interior, helped by his son, Robert,  who became a renowned architect and garden designer.  When Hew Lorimer and his young family moved in to the house in 1942 it still had no electricity or running water but they further improved it to become a place of comfort.
Now it belongs to the National Trust of Scotland and the beautiful gardens are renowned.