Balcaskie

Balcaskie is a 17th-century country house in Fife, Scotland. It lies around 2 km north of St Monans, and is notable chiefly as the home and early work of architect Sir William Bruce. Robert Lorimer, an admirer of Bruce, called the house "the ideal of what a Scottish gentleman's home ought to be". Balcaskie remains the seat of the Chief of the Name and Arms of Anstruther, Tobias Alexander Anstruther of that Ilk

History

Balcaskie was built before 1629, as the home of the Moncrieffs of that Ilk, and was an L-plan house of four storeys. In 1665 the estate was bought by Sir William Bruce, who set about enlarging the house between 1668 and 1674. Bruce planned the new house himself, and employed John Hamilton as mason, and Andrew Waddell as wright. The house was expanded from an L-plan to an almost symmetrical U-plan, with the original building at the west end. The north front was given matching crow-step gables, with a balustraded two-storey central section. In addition, Bruce added tall corner towers to each angle. These had French-inspired details such as rusticated quoins. Bruce may have built the curving wing-walls and pavilions to the north front, however these have also been attributed to a later building phase.