Adjoining the estate village of Garlieston, on Wigtown Bay, the house was begun in 1740 for Lord Garlies, later sixth Earl of Galloway, to designs by John Douglas, assisted by John Baxter as site architect.

She died in 1940, when the house became a hospital for men injured during the Second World War.

Lady Forteviot's step-grandson, Edward Strutt, added to the garden, but in 1947 the house was sold to Glasgow Corporation, and until 1976 was a boarding school.

After that it was sold back into private ownership, firstly to an American, and then an Australian.

In June 2011 the house was put on the market yet again, with an asking price of £1,500,000[2] which was reduced to £1,300,000 in 2013 and £595,000 in September 2014.currently owned by a Mr kamal Hanif OBE bought for undisclosed amount and is currently being renovated to high standards the movie Stella was also filmed there [4]