The core of the building goes back to a 13th-century tower house, the remains of which can still be seen in the courtyard of the castle. Dunrobin was first mentioned in 1401 as a stronghold of the sixth Earl of Sutherland, Robert de Moravia. In the 17th century, two new wings were added to the old castle, connected to the old building by a tower with a spiral staircase.
In the period from 1845 to 1851, under George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland, the castle was given its current appearance, which is reminiscent of a French castle. The architect was Charles Barry, who also designed the English Parliament building in London. Barry also designed the château's garden, which is modeled on the grounds at Versailles. In 1872 Queen Victoria stayed at Dunrobin Castle.
After much of the 19th-century interior was destroyed by fire in 1915, it was redesigned to designs by Robert Lorimer. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the castle served as a boys' boarding school for seven years. The current owner is Elizabeth Sutherland, 24th Countess of Sutherland, who inherited it from her uncle George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 5th Duke of Sutherland in 1963, while the title Duke of Sutherland passed to a distant relative, John Egerton, 6th Duke of Sutherland, fell.