There is no written record of when Kelburn Castle was first built but it is thought to be around 1200. The original Norman Keep was added to in 1581 and the new castle and old castle so skilfully joined and re-roofed that the two periods are now difficult to distinguish from the outside. In 1581 the door was moved to the south side, now a window above which you can see the carved initials of the Laird at the time, John Boyle, and his wife Marion Crawford.

In 1700, the 1st Earl doubled the size of the building by adding a William-and-Mary style mansion house onto the Castle at a slight angle, built to the Earl's instructions by the well known mason, Thomson Caldwell. Defence was then no longer a function of castles and the 1700 addition was of a more comfortable and ornamental design rather more in the style of a French chateau than an English Stately Home.

The Victorian Wing was built in 1879-80, possibly by Alexander Crum, M.P. for Renfrew, who rented Kelburn from 1875 to 1886 from the 6th Earl of Glasgow, who spent most of his time in one of his other Scottish homes.

The Centre Buildings were built in 1700 as the Home Farm. They were once home to cows, pigs, horses and hens as well as community of estate and domestic workers who lived in the cottages. The Home Farm had a laundry to service the castle and a dairy supplying milk and butter. The rooms on the top floors acted as sleeping quarters for the milk maids and laundry maids. The farm buildings were in active use up until the First World Ware. Now the sawmill is the only part that has retained its original function.

In 1977, the buildings were converted into an information office, a cafe, a shop, a pottery workshop, an exhibition room, two houses and a flat.

One of Scotland's 100 Heritage Trees

The most remarkable of all trees at Kelburn is the Weeping Larch, which spreads over about a quarter of an acre between the tennis court and the Plaisance. This unique mutant is thought to be 180 years old and is like no other. Its branches grow out in all directions and those that touch the ground seem to regenerate themselves, travelling sometimes upwards again and sometimes along the ground like a snake. Some of the branches have fused into other branches and, unless closely inspected, it is difficult to believe that this great monster is in fact all one tree.

The Monterey Pine on the east side of the tennis court is the oldest and tallest of it's kind in Scotland. It is over one hundred feet tall and is easily recognisable because it is half as tall again as any other tree in the garden area.

A pair of Scotland's 100 Heritage Trees

In the garden are two magnificent yew trees which have been dated at over one thousand years old and are thus older than the castle and the estate. They are deemed to be two of the finest in Scotland.