Balintore Castle occupies an elevated site in moorland above Balintore village. A tower house named Balintor existed on the site in the late 16th century.
It was designed in 1859 by the architect William Burn. A typical example of the Scottish Baronial style, it features an abundance of turreted towers and gables, and a gone oriel window. The main tower is topped by a balustraded viewing platform similar to that of Buchanan Castle.
The centrepiece of the interior is the great hall, and there is also a gallery, bedrooms, dinner service room, women servant’s sitting room, brushing room, beer cellar, lumber room, butler’s pantry, dining room, and a library.
Balintore Castle was commissioned as a sporting lodge by David Lyon, MP, who had inherited a fortune made by his family through investments in the East India Company. Latterly the castle was used only during the shooting season.
In the 1960s it was decided not to repair the extensive dry rot, and it was abandoned. The castle then stood empty until 2007, during which time its condition deteriorated to point of endangering the structure. Balintore Castle has been listed in the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland since it started in 1990. Angus Council used its compulsory purchase powers to buy it from its absentee Far Eastern owners, and it is now in the hands of a Scotsman who is restoring it and residing there.
References:The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.
The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.
Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.