Plean Tower comprises a small oblong tower house probably dating from the 15th century, and an adjoining 16th-century manor house.
Robert Bruce granted the barony of Plean, or Plane, to John d’Erth soon after 1314. The castle was probably built by Lord Somerville, who acquired the lands of Plean in 1449, through marriage.
An adjoining manor house was built in about 1528. In 1643 James Somervell, 8th Lord of Plane, sold the barony and lands to meet debts. It passed to the Nicholsons and the Elphinstones, but both the tower and the manor fell into disrepair. During the 1745 rebellion the Jacobite troops used the property.
Sir David Menzies restored the buildings in 1908, but by the 1930s they were again no longer in use. It was rebuilt from ruins by Nancy and John Patrick Wright and their sons in 1991-1997 to form a home and holiday accommodation.
Plean Castle originally had three stories and a garret, with parapet corbelling. In its rebuilt 1990s form there is a great hall in the tower with painted ceiling beams and a large fireplace. The adjoining modern 'manor house' is connected to the tower by a wooden walkway and is built over a vaulted basement surviving from the 1528 manor house.
References:The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens. It was built in 161 AD by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. It was originally a steep-sloped theater with a three-story stone front wall and a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. It was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of 5,000. It lasted intact until it was destroyed and left in ruins by the Heruli in 267 AD.
The audience stands and the orchestra (stage) were restored using Pentelic marble in the 1950s. Since then it has been the main venue of the Athens Festival, which runs from May through October each year, featuring a variety of acclaimed Greek as well as International performances.