The rural setting became transformed by coal and oil-shale mining, with miners' rows built in the adjacent villages.

Most of the dereliction has since been cleared, although the conspicuous Five Sisters shale spoil tip survives, as a scheduled monument, still dominating the outlook south from the house.

[citation needed] The decay of Blackburn House stemmed from it becoming the farmhouse to a small farm, now no longer viable.

[citation needed] Blackburn House thus fell into a state of serious disrepair, and was included in the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland at its inception in 1990.

West Lothian Council's newly-established Lowland Crofting scheme[3] provided a solution, with permission for ten new houses granted on condition the house was released, and a third of the farmland put into woods walks and wildlife for community benefit, reducing the farm itself to a smallholding.