Craigiehall was designed by Sir William Bruce, with input from James Smith,[1] and completed in 1699 for the Earl of Annandale, who had recently acquired the Craigie estate through marriage.

[4] The Stewarts sold the estate, which by this time had a tower house, in 1643 to John Fairholm, treasurer to the City of Edinburgh.

[5] In 1682 John Fairholm's granddaughter Sophia, aged only 14, married William Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale, and Craigiehall changed ownership again.

[9] The survey took the place of a site visit by Bruce, who was at this time under virtual house arrest, due to his political leanings, and suspected Jacobite sympathies.

Smith's scheme was judged too small and irregular by Bruce, who urged the Earl to agree to his own "modish and regullar designe".

Craftsmen included the plasterers John McKay and Thomas Albur, cabinet maker William Scott, plumber Joseph Foster, smith Alexander Gardener, and the wright Andrew Barclay.

[16] The building comprises a compact, three-storey house, in the Dutch-classical style which was introduced into England by Sir Roger Pratt, and is typical of Bruce's work.

[15] The six-bay entrance front has a two-bay projecting central section, surmounted by a pediment topped by three pineapples, of which one remains.

Hope-Weir travelled to Europe on the grand tour in 1754-55, taking with him the young architect Robert Adam, and was inspired to improve the Craigiehall policies on his return.

A lake was excavated, and a new bridge over the River Almond was constructed to link the neighbouring estate of Lennie, which Hope-Weir had bought in 1750.

[22] Craigiehall Temple was a circular two-storey structure, with a stair tower at the rear and a pedimented portico on the front.

The structure was burned by vandals in the early 1970s, and in 1977 the upper storey was removed as a hazard to aviation, following the development of a new longer runway at nearby Edinburgh Airport.

[22] In 1818 Hope-Weir's grandson James Joseph Hope-Vere FRSE (1785–1843), who had inherited the estate in 1811, asked the Edinburgh architect Thomas Brown to provide designs for an attic extension, although this was never carried out.

[23] Ten years later, William Burn was commissioned by James Joseph to design a new north wing, incorporating a dining room, with new kitchens below and bedrooms above.

[18] James' son William Edward Hope-Vere (1824–1872) commissioned David Bryce to design a further northern extension in 1853, forming a servant's range, and to remodel some of the interiors.

[25] Lord Rosebery had purchased Craigiehall as a home for his second son Neil Primrose MP, who was killed, the following year, in Gaza during the First World War.

[26] The lease was taken by Mr James Morton, an Edinburgh textile manufacturer, who commissioned Robert Lorimer to make various alterations, the property having stood empty for ten years.

Thompson operated the 25-room hotel and golf course successfully until 1939, when Craigiehall, like many other country houses, was requisitioned for the use of the armed forces.

[30] A rumour, related in Major Innes' book, states that Rudolf Hess was brought to Craigiehall after he flew to Scotland in 1941 to contact the Duke of Hamilton.

[31] After the war, Ernest Thompson exercised an option of his lease allowing him to buy Craigiehall from Lord Rosebery.

Another extension was added, this time to the north-west, to house the staff of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC) in Scotland.

[41][42] Although plans to develop Kirknewton as an Army barracks were scrapped in March 2013,[43] in early 2016, the UK Government announced that the site was one of 12 that will be sold as part of the strategy for the MOD estate.

[45] The site remained home to Edinburgh Troop of 521 EOD Squadron, 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC,[46] until it closed in March 2019.