Although Spitalhaugh House now has the appearance of a Victorian mansion, it may have a much earlier core.

Spitalhaugh was owned by the Douglas family in the 16th century, later passing to the Hay family. John Hay, the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale, sold Spitalhaugh to Richard Murray in 1678. It remained in the Murray family until 1738, when it was sold to a Charles Hamilton, remaining in that family until it passed by marriage to William Fergusson in 1833.

Fergusson was responsible, in the third quarter of the 19th century, for rebuilding and extending Spitalhaugh into its present form.