Originally a 16th-century tower house, the present castle is largely the result of major rebuilding in 1782, to designs by the architect Robert Adam.

It is protected as a category A listed building,[1] while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

His daughter and heiress, Elizabeth Hamilton, married Sir John Dalrymple, 4th Baronet, in 1760, and they inherited the estate in 1779.

Sir John, a lawyer, scientist, and historian, published Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland (1771), and Essays on Different Natural Situations of Gardens (1774), an influential book at the time.

[2] A friend of Robert Adam, he commissioned the architect to rebuild his tower house at Oxenfoord in 1780.