Kilcoy Castle was built around 1580 by the Stewart family, and completed by Alexander Mackenzie, third son of Colin Cam Mackenzie of Kintail around 1618. As a result of his marriage (contract 15 August 1611) to the widow of Sir James Stewart of Kilcoy, he had a charter of the lands of Kilcoy dated 18 July 1616 and a further charter of the Barony of Kilcoy dated 29 January 1618. The estates passed through the male line of the Mackenzies of Kilcoy until the death in 1883 of Sir Evan Mackenzie, 2nd Baronet, when they were inherited by his eldest daughter, who married a Colonel Burton.
It fell into a ruinous state during the late 18th and 19th Centuries and was restored in 1891 by the Inverness Architects Ross and McBeth, who added a four-storey wing to the north. The castle was restored from a ruinous condition in about 1891.
The castle is a Z-plan tower house. It has four storeys with two round corner towers. The slated roof has crow-stepped gables and (probably late 17th century) dormer-head windows. There are many gun loops.
The castle has been recently sold. Its gardens are periodically open to the public under Scotland’s Gardens Scheme.
References:Stobi was an ancient town of Paeonia located near Gradsko. It is considered by many to be the most famous archaeological site in North Macedonia. Stobi was built where the Erigon (Crna River) joins the Axios (Vardar), making it strategically important as a center for both trade and warfare.
Stobi developed from a Paeonian settlement established in the Archaic period. It is believed that in 217 BCE, Philip V annexed Paionia during his campaign against the Dardani who had entered Bylazora, the largest Paeonian town.
The city was first mentioned in writing by the historian Livy, in connection with a victory of Philip V of Macedon over the Dardani in 197 BC. In 168 BC, the Romans defeated Perseus and Macedonia was divided into four nominally independent republics. In 148 BC, the four areas of Macedonia were brought together in a unified Roman province. In the reign of Augustus the city grew in size and population.