Lord Egerton Castle the 52 room house with sad love story.

Have you ever done something tangible to win a soul or impress someone in the name of love? Lord Egerton Castle in Ngata, Nakuru is a place with a sad love story.

The castle was built by a British white settler Maurice Egerton at Ngata area in Nakuru who bought land in order to settle in the area. After purchasing the land Maurice Egerton built a small first house. While living in the first house the second house with four bedrooms was built where he moved in. During that period Lord Egerton was courting a blond English lady by name Victoria and was keen to settle with her in the four bedroom house.

Victoria however turned down his proposal on account of what she referred to as a dwelling not befitting of her taste and standard. She would even go ahead and  term the house as a “chicken coup”. This prompted Maurice Egerton to construct the imposing beautiful castle in 1938 with a purpose to impress the lady and win her soul. Sadly for the second time she turned down his marriage offer when she just arrived at site.

With the interruption of the Second World War the construction went on for 16 years with its completion done in 1954.

Upon refusing to marry Lord Egerton, Victoria took off immediately to her native, England. With this humiliation, a distraught and angry Lord Egerton made a monumental resolution: never to engage or deal with women in his life and never to marry.

It’s said that in his will he vowed no woman of any race was to be allowed into his home for whatever reason. His white friends and farm workers were forced to leave their wives or girlfriends at the gate whenever they wanted to see or interact with Lord Egerton.

Back then in 1939, the son of Alan de Tatton had set up the Egerton Farm School (Egerton University) as an institution to educate young European youths and practice agricultural matters in his 21,000 acre field. It is in this land that he built the 52 room house.

It’s said that in his will Lord Egerton stated that the agricultural college he had founded was to be a male only institution and his wishes were granted for several years until the government of Kenya under pressure of lack of educational facilities directed admission of women into the college and subsequently expanded the institution to present day Egerton University.

Intentionally and as per his wishes the authorities retained his name: naming the college and its expansive estate after Egerton. Lord Maurice Egerton stayed in the castle for only four years until his demise in January 1958 aged 83 years. In his death bed Lord Egerton was attended by a total of eighty medical personnel and care givers largely drawn from Britain and Europe at large.

The castle has received legions of visitors who marvel at this vestige of colonial opulance as it serves as a tourist attraction.

In an ironic twist to this bitter story, Lord Egerton Castle is now a favorite spot for lovebirds. Weddings, engagement proposals and lovers’ picnics are held here on a regular basis. It is a certainly a spot worth visiting.

The well-manicured green lawns and the imposing British-styled castle offer a picturesque backdrop for romance and romantic events. The castle without a princess still stands, bearing testament to the extent to which love can drive a man, and the depths to which rejection can sink him.