The Tower House was constructed around 1490-1500, using stone robbed out from the ruins of the castle, by the Black Douglases, to whom the lordship of Galloway had passed in the 14th Century and who presided over the territory from their stronghold at Threave Castle just outside today's town of Castle Douglas. By the time the first stage was completed it was already out of date as a design for a fortified building of that time and the "L" wing was added on soon after.

c.1500

c.1580

c.1610

In the 16th Century the Maxwell family assumed the position lost by the Douglases as the most powerful family in the immediate area. In 1516, possession of the ground passed to a Maxwell, the Earl of Morton, remaining in their possession until the 19th Century.

Times became more difficult and the property went into a decline, the house being abandoned in 1724. A fire in 1740 burnt it out and by 1790 (as seen in the engraving at right) it was a roofless ruin.

By 1830 it was reinhabited and in 1881 the owners decided to let the property to a tenant farmer, but not before demolishing the turrets as they considered these too grand for the dwelling in its new guise. The original interior plan of the house was also changed at this time.

It stayed as a farm until 1992 when its present owners, Jeffrey and Janet Burn, acquired it. Since then they have embarked on an ambitious re-development programme to restore the exterior and interior of the house, as far as is possible, to their original form