John | Desmond | London | Anita | billiards | Ireland
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An Estate Of Curious Whimsy
by Jack Boulware
Here I am in Castle Leslie
With rows and rows of books upon the
shelves
Written by the Leslies
All about themselves.
We chat for a while. Sir John grew up
here only half the time, commuting between the castle and another
family home in London. After World War II, the castle started
accepting paying visitors and even ran small ads in publications.
Early guests were primarily cousins and family friends. Sir John's
brother, Desmond, and his sister, Anita, had the idea to go
full-time with the business, and the decision was made to retain
the castle as an old country house, surrounded by trees and
complete with its original furniture and -pictures. This has always
been the appeal for people, he says.
Like any 90-year-old, Sir John has rich memories. He recalls
playing billiards with his grandfather in this room, the library -
only back then it was lined with deer horns. In the villages,
children once scampered about in bare feet, and there were no cars
or bicycles. "You see the same boys driving by in Mercedeses
today," he chuckles.
I can't resist asking him about the UFO history, because I'm pretty
sure no other estate in Ireland features a UFO landing pad. It was
constructed because Sir John's brother, Desmond, had collaborated
on a book with George Adamski, an American who claimed to have been
abducted by aliens. Flying Saucers Have Landed was a theosophical
hodgepodge of ancient Egyptian history, Indian mythology, the lost
city of Atlantis, and aliens from Venus - all of which has since
been thoroughly debunked.
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