American Way Cover - 12/15/2007

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John | Desmond | London | Anita | billiards | Ireland

An Estate Of Curious Whimsy

by Jack Boulware
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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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John | London | billiards | Ireland

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