[1] During the 19th century, it was redesigned and extended in the style of a French Renaissance château fused with elements of Scottish baronial architecture.
In the fourteenth century the 5th Thane Sir Patrick Callander, supported the claim of Edward Balliol to the throne of Scotland.
The Callendar estates were forfeited and purchased by the York Buildings Company, who leased the house back to the earl's daughter, Lady Anne Livingston, from 1724.
[4] On 14 September 1725 Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at the house where he persuaded Lady Anne and her husband William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock to join him.
[4] Lord Errol bid for the estate, but was outbid by an Aberdeen coppersmith William Forbes (1756–1823), a businessman who specialised in contracts to supply the Royal Navy.
When construction of the Union Canal was proposed, William Forbes objected to it passing through his estate, in view of Callendar House.
Staff in period costumes give insights into working conditions in the house over the centuries and prepare the same food that was enjoyed at the grand social occasions that once took place there.
The grounds of the house contain a pitch and putt course, crazy golf, a children's adventure playground, a boating lake and the Antonine Wall.
[14][15] Callendar Estate extends to 500 acres (2.0 km2) and is open for walks through the woodland and also home to the Forbes family mausoleum, a large domed circular Grecian-Doric building which contains the remains of many of the Forbeses.
Various events are held in the grounds throughout the year, including the annual firework display, which is regularly attended by over 70,000 people, as well as the national street arts festival, Big in Falkirk, the largest round of the Scottish Cyclocross Series and the Scottish National Cross Country Championships.
Behind the house lies Callander Wood, which contains a number of pre-determined paths popular with ramblers and dog walkers.