diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index fa3606ee32..aa82ce434e 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ version = '0.1.0-SNAPSHOT'
 sourceCompatibility = 1.8
 
 sourceSets.main.resources.srcDirs += 'src/main/java'
+sourceSets.test.resources.srcDirs += 'src/test/java'
 
 mainClassName = "io.bitsquare.app.gui.BitsquareAppMain"
 
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ dependencies {
     compile 'org.jetbrains:annotations:13.0'
     compile 'eu.hansolo.enzo:Enzo:0.1.5'
     testCompile 'junit:junit:4.11'
+    testCompile "org.mockito:mockito-core:1.+"
     testCompile 'org.springframework:spring-test:4.1.1.RELEASE'
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/viewfx/ViewfxException.java b/src/main/java/viewfx/ViewfxException.java
index 2b1a72f019..b837d500ac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/viewfx/ViewfxException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/viewfx/ViewfxException.java
@@ -17,9 +17,15 @@
 
 package viewfx;
 
+import static java.lang.String.format;
+
 public class ViewfxException extends RuntimeException {
 
     public ViewfxException(Throwable cause, String format, Object... args) {
-        super(String.format(format, args), cause);
+        super(format(format, args), cause);
+    }
+
+    public ViewfxException(String format, Object... args) {
+        super(format(format, args));
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/viewfx/view/DefaultPathConvention.java b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/DefaultPathConvention.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd7b17bc1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/DefaultPathConvention.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of Bitsquare.
+ *
+ * Bitsquare is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Bitsquare is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public
+ * License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with Bitsquare. If not, see .
+ */
+
+package viewfx.view;
+
+import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
+
+public class DefaultPathConvention implements FxmlView.PathConvention {
+    @Override
+    public String apply(Class extends View> viewClass) {
+        return ClassUtils.convertClassNameToResourcePath(viewClass.getName()).concat(".fxml");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/viewfx/view/FxmlView.java b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/FxmlView.java
index b8c046c55c..56d9f5c1a1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/viewfx/view/FxmlView.java
+++ b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/FxmlView.java
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
 import java.lang.annotation.Target;
-import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 
 @Target(ElementType.TYPE)
 @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@@ -40,12 +39,8 @@ public @interface FxmlView {
      * By default it is the fully-qualified view class name, converted to a resource path, replacing the
      * {@code .class} suffix replaced with {@code .fxml}.
      */
-    Class extends Function, String>> convention() default DefaultFxmlPathConvention.class;
+    Class extends PathConvention> convention() default DefaultPathConvention.class;
 
-    static class DefaultFxmlPathConvention implements Function, String> {
-        @Override
-        public String apply(Class extends View> viewClass) {
-            return ClassUtils.convertClassNameToResourcePath(viewClass.getName()).concat(".fxml");
-        }
+    static interface PathConvention extends Function, String> {
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoader.java b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoader.java
index 997a894dc1..cad8c8bb68 100644
--- a/src/main/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoader.java
@@ -33,7 +33,13 @@ import viewfx.view.ViewLoader;
 
 import javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
+import org.springframework.cglib.core.ReflectUtils;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
+import org.springframework.util.ReflectionUtils;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils.getDefaultValue;
 
 public class FxmlViewLoader implements ViewLoader {
 
@@ -46,30 +52,70 @@ public class FxmlViewLoader implements ViewLoader {
         this.resourceBundle = resourceBundle;
     }
 
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     public View load(Class> clazz) {
         if (!View.class.isAssignableFrom(clazz))
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Class must be of generic type Class extends View>: " + clazz);
 
-        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
         Class extends View> viewClass = (Class extends View>) clazz;
 
         FxmlView fxmlView = AnnotationUtils.getAnnotation(viewClass, FxmlView.class);
+
+        final Class extends FxmlView.PathConvention> convention;
+        final Class extends FxmlView.PathConvention> defaultConvention =
+                (Class extends FxmlView.PathConvention>) getDefaultValue(FxmlView.class,  "convention");
+
+        final String specifiedLocation;
+        final String defaultLocation = (String) getDefaultValue(FxmlView.class, "location");
+
+        if (fxmlView == null) {
+            convention = defaultConvention;
+            specifiedLocation = defaultLocation;
+        }
+        else {
+            convention = fxmlView.convention();
+            specifiedLocation = fxmlView.location();
+        }
+
+        if (convention == null || specifiedLocation == null)
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Convention and location should never be null.");
+
+
         try {
-            String path = fxmlView.convention().newInstance().apply(viewClass);
-            return load(viewClass.getClassLoader().getResource(path));
+            final String resolvedLocation;
+            if (specifiedLocation.equals(defaultLocation))
+                resolvedLocation = convention.newInstance().apply(viewClass);
+            else
+                resolvedLocation = specifiedLocation;
+
+            URL fxmlUrl = viewClass.getClassLoader().getResource(resolvedLocation);
+            if (fxmlUrl == null)
+                throw new ViewfxException(
+                        "Failed to load view class [%s] because FXML file at [%s] could not be loaded " +
+                                "as a classpath resource. Does it exist?", viewClass, specifiedLocation);
+
+            return load(fxmlUrl);
         } catch (InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException ex) {
-            throw new ViewfxException(ex, "Failed to load View from class %s", viewClass);
+            throw new ViewfxException(ex, "Failed to load view from class %s", viewClass);
         }
     }
 
     public View load(URL url) {
+        checkNotNull(url, "FXML URL must not be null");
         try {
             FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader(url, resourceBundle);
             loader.setControllerFactory(viewFactory);
             loader.load();
-            return loader.getController();
+            Object controller = loader.getController();
+            if (controller == null)
+                throw new ViewfxException("Failed to load view from FXML file at [%s]. " +
+                        "Does it declare an fx:controller attribute?", url);
+            if (!(controller instanceof View))
+                throw new ViewfxException("Controller of type [%s] loaded from FXML file at [%s] " +
+                        "does not implement [%s] as expected.", controller.getClass(), url, View.class);
+            return (View) controller;
         } catch (IOException ex) {
-            throw new ViewfxException(ex, "Failed to load View at location %s", url);
+            throw new ViewfxException(ex, "Failed to load view from FXML file at [%s]", url);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$Malformed.fxml b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$Malformed.fxml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxController.fxml b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxController.fxml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd9e284182
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxController.fxml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.fxml b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.fxml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e868889b54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.fxml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$WellFormed.fxml b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$WellFormed.fxml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..06a3949e56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests$WellFormed.fxml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+
+
+
+
diff --git a/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests.java b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bbd482e221
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/viewfx/view/support/fxml/FxmlViewLoaderTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of Bitsquare.
+ *
+ * Bitsquare is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at
+ * your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Bitsquare is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public
+ * License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with Bitsquare. If not, see .
+ */
+
+package viewfx.view.support.fxml;
+
+import java.util.ResourceBundle;
+
+import viewfx.ViewfxException;
+import viewfx.view.FxmlView;
+import viewfx.view.View;
+import viewfx.view.ViewFactory;
+import viewfx.view.ViewLoader;
+import viewfx.view.support.AbstractView;
+
+import javafx.fxml.LoadException;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.instanceOf;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.contains;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+public class FxmlViewLoaderTests {
+
+    private ViewLoader viewLoader;
+    private ViewFactory viewFactory;
+
+    @Rule
+    public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() {
+        viewFactory = mock(ViewFactory.class);
+        ResourceBundle resourceBundle = mock(ResourceBundle.class);
+        viewLoader = new FxmlViewLoader(viewFactory, resourceBundle);
+    }
+
+
+    @FxmlView
+    static class WellFormed extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void wellFormedFxmlFileShouldSucceed() {
+        given(viewFactory.call(WellFormed.class)).willReturn(new WellFormed());
+        View view = viewLoader.load(WellFormed.class);
+        assertThat(view, instanceOf(WellFormed.class));
+    }
+
+
+    @FxmlView
+    static class MissingFxController extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void fxmlFileMissingFxControllerAttributeShouldThrow() {
+        thrown.expect(ViewfxException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Does it declare an fx:controller attribute?");
+        viewLoader.load(MissingFxController.class);
+    }
+
+
+    static class MissingFxmlViewAnnotation extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void fxmlViewAnnotationShouldBeOptional() {
+        given(viewFactory.call(MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.class)).willReturn(new MissingFxmlViewAnnotation());
+        View view = viewLoader.load(MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.class);
+        assertThat(view, instanceOf(MissingFxmlViewAnnotation.class));
+    }
+
+
+    static class NonView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void nonViewClassShouldThrow() {
+        thrown.expect(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Class must be of generic type");
+        viewLoader.load(NonView.class);
+    }
+
+
+    @FxmlView
+    static class Malformed extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void malformedFxmlFileShouldThrow() {
+        thrown.expect(ViewfxException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Failed to load view from FXML file");
+        thrown.expectCause(instanceOf(LoadException.class));
+        viewLoader.load(Malformed.class);
+    }
+
+
+    @FxmlView
+    static class MissingFxmlFile extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void missingFxmlFileShouldThrow() {
+        thrown.expect(ViewfxException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Does it exist?");
+        viewLoader.load(MissingFxmlFile.class);
+    }
+
+
+    @FxmlView(location = "unconventionally/located.fxml")
+    static class CustomLocation extends AbstractView {
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void customFxmlFileLocationShouldOverrideDefaultConvention() {
+        thrown.expect(ViewfxException.class);
+        thrown.expectMessage("Failed to load view class");
+        thrown.expectMessage("CustomLocation");
+        thrown.expectMessage("[unconventionally/located.fxml] could not be loaded");
+        viewLoader.load(CustomLocation.class);
+    }
+}
+