 Ralph Bates (1764–1813), High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1812 and later Deputy Lieutenant, built the house in about 1810 to a design by Edinburgh architect John Patterson.It was built in a Georgian style in local stone, around an octagonal courtyard and features unusual internal arrangements including a rotunda salon.In 1891 Georgiana Elliot (née Bates) bequeathed the estate to her grandson Ralph Mortimer (High Sheriff in 1916).