French connection to a Scots mansion
House whose lavish interior inspired stately submarine home of Jules Verne’s Nemo
ESTATE agents are famously fond of hyperbole, wildly accentuating the attributes of any given property at their disposal. A pet hate is the use of the word ‘stunning’, present in so many house descriptions as to render it completely meaningless.
But should you hear any selling agent declare this Scottish Baronial mansion designed by architect David Bryce ‘out of this world’ – the claim must be given serious consideration.
Inzievar House had just been completed in 1859 when it was visited by French science fiction writer Jules Verne. He was so smitten by its quality that it is claimed it inspired the interior of the Nautilus, the Victorian age submarine in his book 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
Certainly, this vessel of Verne’s imagination was fitted out to a degree of luxury never before seen above or below the Seven Seas.
It had a library, expensive paintings and several distinguished collections of jewels. When not at the helm – or should that be periscope? – Captain Nemo would entertain himself playing his grand organ of an evening.
Literary historians have long argued just how much of an influence Inzievar House had on the French visionary author – but it does get a mention in William Butcher’s translation of Verne’s book Backwards to Britain. Inzievar House was built for the Smith Sligo family, which owned countless coal mines and the Forth Iron Works at Oakley, near Dunfermline.
It must have constituted an impressive sight in the Fife countryside at night, its sweeping driveway illuminated by individual coal gas lamps.
As with so many mansions of the time, the proportions of Inzievar House would become unmanageable as time wore on, the scale of the property becoming impossibly large for just one family.
In the 1980s, it was converted into a number of flats, offering a variety of new owners an address worthy of Downton, yet sufficiently economical to run as a home.
Having gone through several incarnations in its 150-year history, Inzievar House now finds itself in an enviable position at the start of the 21st century.
Later this spring, we can expect the opening of the Queensferry Crossing, the £1.4 billion replacement for the Forth Road Bridge.
Fortunately, it’s not too far from the Kincardine Bridge either, often used as an alternative by motorists when bad weather or accidents close the existing Forth Road Bridge.
A slice of this history is currently available for offers over £230,000. Number 3 Inzievar House takes full advantage of the scale of the property to offer rooms very much taller than any new-build home. The centrepiece of the third-floor apartment, however, does pinch something of the modern approach to living through its combined kitchen, diner and living room. Up-to-date touches can also be detected in the underfloor heating in the kitchen, bathroom and en suite to one of the two bedrooms. The number of apartments may not satisfy a Victorian coal baron, but they do present an acceptable modern take on a historical building. The flat comes with the shared grand entrance to Inzievar House and the sweeping staircase which leads to a private reception hallway.
Ownership also provides access to ten acres of lovely grounds and woodland.
OLDER people from the area can still recall being chased off the land as kids because it belonged to the estate. But the Smith Sligo family endeared themselves to the local community by building a school for miners’ children and the Church of the Holy Name.
The church in Oakley boasts spectacular windows by renowned stained glass artist Gabriel Loire of Chartres.
Just another strand to Inzievar’s intriguing French connection.
Offers over £230,000 to Robyn Morrocco of Morgans. Tel 01383 620 222 or email robynmorrocco@ morganlaw.co.uk