Harriet Douglas was described as an independent and eccentric woman, who had her marriage bed sawed in half and used as two couches after an acrimonious divorce.

Mrs. Kudla sold the property in 1979 to Mstislav Rostropovich, the Russian cellist who became musical director and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.

In 1983 he and his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, constructed a million dollar 8,300 sq ft (770 m2) contemporary residence on the sprawling estate grounds, yards from the castle.

Largely unoccupied for most of the second half of the 20th century, the castle fell into a state of complete disrepair, with almost all of the structure now collapsed much like its namesake in Scotland.

After Rostropovich left the United States to return to his homeland of Russia in the late 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, the whole estate was marketed as Gelston Manor during 2000–2007.

The Rostropovich Mansion has been renovated as a "Green Building" and is operated as a Wedding and Event Performance Center called Chateau Safflyn.