When touring New Zealand Pam and I touched down in Dunedin. The town was settled by Scottish immigrants. (Dunedin is Scottish Gaelic for Edinburgh which became the template for Dunedin’s layout.)
While in Dunedin we paid a visit to the nearby Larnach Castle which had an interesting but very sad history behind it. Built by William Larnach, the castle served as home for Larnach and his family.
However, Larnach may have been a successful businessman and politician, but he was not as fortunate with regards to his personal life. He buried two wives. He then married a third time to a much younger lady who had an affair with his son. And in between all this, he had to bury his daughter Kate who died suddenly. (Her ghost supposedly still haunts the castle.) Larnach eventually shot himself (click here.) After his death, the castle and the rest of his estate was fought over by his family.
So, despite how grand an estate Larnach erected and left behind for us to admire, the rest of his story is quite sad. Guess there is a moral in there somewhere but I’m not sure what that would be. Keep your house small and modest maybe?
Olana in upper state New York was the home of artist Frederic Church.