The first 21 years of my life was divided between California, Connecticut, and the UK. Scotland, where I attended Uni, and have long-standing family ties, has always exercised a particular pull on me. After university, 6 years in California, where I worked as a choir director in an Orthodox parish, my cousin Tobias and I decided that we wanted to put down roots somewhere we could restore a property, foster community, and put a little beauty back into the world.

 

Our search was long and occasionally comical: fourteen properties in ten days, most of them in some stage between 'challenging' and 'catastrophic'. And then we arrived at Buittle Castle. Even in its rather dishevelled state it was utterly compelling: ancient stones, a remarkable history stretching from the Lords of Galloway to the Balliols to Jacobites and beyond, and endless potential. Some people prefer turnkey houses; we preferred the chance to roll up our sleeves in a place our ancestors called home.

 

We moved in 2017 and began the slow, rewarding process of restoration. In 2018 we welcomed our first B&B guests, and the Castle has grown steadily since, now hosting historical tours, weddings, small events, exhibitions, and community gatherings.

 

2020 saw an especially meaningful milestone: I was able to reunite the historic Barony of Buittle with its caput, something that felt important not just for me but for the continuity of the place. The Barony once played a vital role in local organisation, charity, and culture, and our aim has been to revive as much of that as possible in a modern setting.

 

Alongside this, my ecclesiastical work continues at the Orthodox Cathedral in Dumfries , where we have a growing parish life and an active food bank, and in the Scottish Mission Area of the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

 

In recent years we have deepened our international connections. I was honoured to be appointed a delegate of the Verein zur Förderung des Friedens (Flame of Peace) in Vienna, representing the Barony in its peace-building and cultural work. In 2023 I was elected to the board of the Whithorn Trust, which supports Scotland’s earliest Christian heritage, with a keen eye on community engagement.

 

Buittle today is a place of quiet industry: bees and honey production (recently expanded and yielding our first bottled honey),

ongoing restoration of historic parts of the estate, new community offerings, seasonal markets, the development of the Old Kitchen Block into a holiday cottage, and the continued historical research into the Balliol family and the medieval Barony.

 

If you have made it this far, thank you for indulging these reflections. I hope they give a sense of the spirit in which we care for Buittle: not as a museum piece, but as a living place with a long memory and a hopeful future.

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Until we meet again, or for the first time, in person,

James