Pittarthie Castle was a laird’s fortified house in Fife. The present house was built for James Monypenny of Pitmilly c. 1580. There are substantial remains of the hilltop house, which is built in an 'L' plan with the jamb, its northwest corner bowed, attached to the southwest of the main block, and a stair tower in the inner angle. The stonework is good quality rubble with ashlar dressings. but much coarser masonry appears at the bottom of the south wall, possibly evidence of an earlier building. It displays wonderfully decorative but now fairly useless defences—a gunloop beside the roll-moulded door, and pistol holes below all the window sills.
The date 1682 is carved, together with William Bruce's arms and initials, on a segmental pediment over the first floor hall's south window. This window, like most of the others, has typically late 17th century rounded arrises. The interior is derelict. In the tunnel-vaulted jamb, there is a kitchen with a huge north fireplace, and a water inlet in the west wall. Perhaps also of late 17th-century origin was the addition of a north stair turret.
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The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
