In addition to the "The Big house" itself, Culloden House also includes various ancillary buildings, the most impressive of which are the Stables (now converted into luxury flats) and the Doo-cot (Pidgeon Loft) which both situated between the House and Culloden Housing Estate. Both are also Listed buildings, and were built c.1788

Culloden House near Inverness, now a luxury hotel, has a wealth of history. <a href="http://www.cullodenhouse.co.uk/about-us/history" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.cullodenhouse.co.uk/about-us/history</a>

Bonnie Prince Charlie used Culloden House as his lodging and battle headquarters prior to that fateful battle on Culloden Moor – but the existing house, already over 200 years old, is not the first house to stand on the site. Originally it was a 16th century Jacobean castle and parts of the house date back to this time.

Early on various owners claimed Culloden as their home ranging from the family of the first Stuart King, Robert II, to the chieftain of the Macintosh clan.

Duncan Forbes of Culloden was Lord Chief Justice of Scotland at the time of the 1745 Uprising. As staunch Presbyterians, the family had suffered during earlier Jacobite uprisings, including having the house occupied and plundered by Viscount Dundee in 1688. Wise and persuasive, Duncan convinced some powerful Highland chiefs not to join the uprising. Sir Walter Scott described Duncan as the "distinguished Scotsman who by his efforts saved the Hanoverian throne".

Duncan, however, was appalled by the aftermath of the battle and urged George II not to inflict harsh punishment on the Highlanders. But George II was shaken by the rebellion and not in the mood to listen. He angrily responded to Duncan's pleas by withholding payment of funds owned Duncan by the crown, nearly ruining his fortune. Duncan died a few years after the battle, it is said, of a broken heart. It was Duncan’s son John who managed to revive the House’s fortunes, and John’s son Arthur completed the project.

The renovation of the by-then fire-damaged Culloden House into a Georgian Mansion was done by Robert Adam FRSE FRS FSA (Scot) FSA FRSA (3 July 1728 – 3 March 1792) who just happened to be in the area each year from 1850 for the next decade, in respect of his work as main contractors for the construction of Fort George. The Fort shared the same stone and masonry work at Culloden House. The house passed out the Forbes family in 1897, and remained in private hands until 1975 when it was converted into a country house hotel of world-wide renown.

The House consists of a main tower block of 3 storeys joined by two screened walls to two two-storey pavilions built over 12 vaulted cellars.