Fairlie Castle is a restored oblong tower castle located on a natural rounded knoll situated above a precipitous section of the Fairlie Glen near the town of Fairlie in North Ayrshire. It was built by the now extinct family, the Fairlies of that Ilk and survives in a fairly good state of preservation.
Timothy Pont records that Fairlie was a strong tower with orchards and gardens. One source has it that Sir Robert Fairlie of that Ilk built the present castle in 1521, the family having held the lands since the fourteenth century. In around 1656-1660 the last of the Fairlie family sold the castle and barony to the Boyle family in the person of David, first Earl of Glasgow. Little Cumbrae Castle, Law Castle at West Kilbride and Fairlie Castle are all in the vicinity of the Firth of Clyde and have striking similarities.
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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.
