[1] The first house on the site, which was known as "Viewforth" was commissioned by the Rev John McMillan, Moderator of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, in 1787.

[2] The earliest part of the current building, which was designed by John Hay in the Scottish baronial style, was built for Drummond and completed in 1855.

[1][3] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with four bays facing St Ninian's Road; it featured a stone porch, supported by polished columns, on the ground floor with coat of arms and finial above; there was a narrow oriel window on the first floor and a bartizan on the left corner.

[4][2][a] A large extension, extending the building eastwards to a design by James Miller in an art deco style in order the create additional administrative facilities for the county council, was added in 1937.

[1] The design for the extension involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eighteen bays facing south; the central section of three sections featured a doorway with an iron surround on the ground floor flanked by windows and full-height pilasters with a coat of arms above; there were windows on the first floor with a block pediment and frieze above.