 Robert Lorimer, an admirer of Bruce, called the house "the ideal of what a Scottish gentleman's home ought to be".Balcaskie remains the seat of the Chief of the Name and Arms of Anstruther, Tobias Alexander Anstruther of that Ilk.The original Balcaskie House (Castle) was built some time before 1629, as the home of the Moncrieffs of that Ilk, and was a traditional L-plan fortified house of four storeys.