Scottish Castle in Wisconsin? Help!

[McFarkus]

Glen

Looks like a great place to have a Chicago Kilt Weekend

[Glen C]

Glen

Looks like a great place to have a Chicago Kilt Weekend

There's an idea! The Duke of Perth North!

[beloitpiper]

You know what you should do? Make it into a Ceilidh hall. You could have a bar, and there's a stage for the band, and then plenty of room for dancers. During the week, put in long tables and make it a beer hall (the Germans up by Lake Super'r der would love dat, don't cha know).

By the way, what town is that? Superior?

[Glen C]

Hi Greg,
Close but no cigar. It's Ashland.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Before you get too carried away, obtain a copy of McGibbon & Ross's five volume masterwork, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland. Likewise, I'd suggest the possibly more easily obtained Living In Scotland and Living in the Highlands both by Lesley Astaire and Roddy Martine, as well as Scottish Country by Charles Maclean and Christopher Simon Sykes. The other "must read" book is The Scottish Chateau (I can't recall the author, and I can't lay my hands on the damn book) which is a superb analysis of the Scottish castle, as usually seen on shortbread tins.

Having lived in a "castle" for more than two decades (My great hall had a 42 foot ceiling, and in the winter it could get a bit more than chilly!) I would suggest you study up on castles before you take the plunge. If you are going to do it, I think you ought to do it right, otherwise you will end up living in what could jolly well look like a church that's been converted into a down-scale castle themed restaurant.

BTW, the last year I lived in the castle my heating bill was over $12,000 US. Reason #27 that I moved to the USA...

[Glen C]

Having lived in a "castle" for more than two decades (My great hall had a 42 foot ceiling, and in the winter it could get a bit more than chilly!) I would suggest you study up on castles before you take the plunge. If you are going to do it, I think you ought to do it right, otherwise you will end up living in what could jolly well look like a church that's been converted into a down-scale castle themed restaurant.

BTW, the last year I lived in the castle my heating bill was over $12,000 US. Reason #27 that I moved to the USA...

I will look for the books that you mentioned. Thank you! The church has 27' ceilings, but it has new in floor radiant hot water heat that is suplemented by additional solar baseboard heat. Last January the electric and gas bills were only $350.00, for a 5000 sq foot building. In fact the solar supplies almost all the heat in the spring and fall.

[Standard]

Looks like a fun project, but as MacMillan said watchout for the utility bills. As someone else stated be careful to study up and do it right, if you are truely going to do this make it look well planned out, not like an amusement park attraction. A great fireplace would absolutely be needed. Good luck!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

5000 square feet; in contrast we lived in 12,800 sq ft, which represented slightly more than a third of the total building. That probably accounts for the difference in heating bills!

I'd respectfully suggest that you avoid doing anything "open plan" as that is totally NOT in keeping with the idea of a castle. It would be nice to know what the front of the building looks like.

Just looking at the interior pictures, I would make three suggestions right off the bat.

(1) You are going to have to do something about the industrial strength ceiling. I'd suggest dividing each of the spaces between the arches into six or nine panels, boxed in with molding at least 6 inches wide and 4-6 inches deep. Paint the molding to match the arches, and paint the flat panels a medium blue (NOT sky blue). After the paint has dried put a 3/4 to 1 inch wide gilding strip along the inside edge of each panel. If you want, you can place coats of arms in the centre of each panel, thus further enriching the ceiling.

(2) Assuming that you enter through two huge doors in the front of the building, I would advise you create a "laigh" hall as you immediately enter the building. Do this by building a floor to ceiling wall about 12 feet from the front door. In the centre of this wall place your fireplaces, back to back, with the larger one in the great hall. Floor over the laigh hall at the 12 foot level and place a stair at one end of the room, leading up to the new room above the laigh hall. You now have a long room with a vaulted ceiling that can double as a library and minstrel's gallery. In the laigh hall, on the wall opposite the staircase, put in a cloak room, WC and wash hand basin. On either side of the fireplace put your doors into the great hall. Coming in from outside you will now be greeted by an almost perfect cube of a room (12x12x12) richly paneled, that will lead into your great hall.

(3) I would reduce the length of the great hall to something around 48 feet, and put up a second internal wall reaching from floor to ceiling (this will leave you with a great hall measuring approximately 30x48, which in my experience is quite large enough! On this wall I'd place a second fireplace, again flanked by doors on either side, thus mirroring the opposite wall. I would leave the existing paneling, and faux finish the walls above to resemble a honey coloured sandstone. On the other side of this second wall I'd place my kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc., laid out as may be convenient within the space remaining.

In addition to my own place I've been involved in the restoration/renovation of several other castles. PM me if you wish to discuss this further.

[Jock Scot]

Now to get real atmosphere into your "castle" there are things that you really must have! Instant access to Fort Knox, the damp, dust, damp, rust, moths, damp, draughts, cold, repair bills, damp, threadbare carpets and furniture, wood worm, damp, dry rot, wet rot, death watch beetle, damp, smoke filled rooms from the fireplaces that has damp wood in it, more repair bills, the cost of your own private nuclear power plant. Oh, and did I mention the damp? Once you have got the hang of all that, you are some of the way to having your own castle. One last thing that may come in handy, an SAS survival course!

[fluter]

Glen, all I can think of is the Valhalla banquet scenes from Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul.

You'll need some huge smoky fireplaces, long trestle tables, rushes on the floor, dogs, drunken Vikings wrestling with roasted boars, etc.