It is located by the River Annan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-west of Ecclefechan and the same distance north-west of Brydekirk in the parish of Cummertrees.

[1] It was probably built for Sir John Maxwell, who acquired Hoddom in the mid 16th-century when he married the heiress Agnes, Lady Herries.

[2] In the aftermath of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Regent Moray besieged Hoddom, which capitulated after ten hours, on 21 June 1568.

[3] It was briefly the base of Douglas of Drumlanrig, a Warden of the Scottish West March, but was recaptured in 1569 by supporters of Queen Mary.

In around 1826, General Matthew Sharpe of Hoddom commissioned William Burn to design modern extensions to the south and west of the castle.