Palace range of Kinneil House, Bo'ness

Kinneil House in Bo'ness is a substantial L-plan building combining a late 15th century tower house with a 16th century palace wing, along with 17th century additions and remodelling. The structure is built in sandstone, coursed tooled and random rubble, with some harling remaining. The west elevation of the tower contains gunloops.

The tower's east (principal) elevation features a 5-storey, 3-bay central section flanked by advanced lower 4-storey towers with pyramidal roofs. The central section displays a doorpiece, now partly obscured by a modern metal protective door, with a lugged architrave and bracketed segmental pediment and balustrade parapet. The palace range extends 3 storeys across 3 bays with crowstepped gables, though only the east end is currently roofed. Many openings are boarded up, and the roofed sections have replacement grey slate coverings. Cast iron rainwater goods are present, including one hopper to the west elevation dated 1980.

The interior was examined in 2004. The tower contains no internal floors or partition walls, but retains some lath and plaster, plaster cornices, stone chimneypieces and staircases. Staircases in the corner towers connect to the palace range, with the north tower linking through to it.

The palace block's ground floor is divided into barrel-vaulted cellars, one containing a well. The first floor holds two rooms with important 16th century painted decoration. The Parable Room features a fine coffered oak ceiling and black line drawings with touches of colour set into architectural frames between the dado and frieze, predominantly depicting the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. The Arbour Room is tunnel vaulted and contains both mid-16th century and 1620s painted decoration. The earlier scheme has been partially revealed through removal of later work. The painted decoration includes foliate designs with didactic scrolls and roundels depicting biblical scenes including Samson and Delilah and David and Bathsheba. A 1620s trompe l'oeil painted panelling remains partly in place.

The approach avenue to the east features a pair of impressive 17th century square plan gatepiers. Built of squared rubble and ashlar with cornicing and ball-finials, they have engaged columns to their east face.

To the west of the tower, a deep gorge is crossed by a single arched stone footbridge. At the west end of this bridge stands a pair of later polygonal pedestrial gatepiers, constructed of droved sandstone with cornicing and polygonal caps.

A boundary wall runs to the southeast, built of rubble with flat coping stones and incorporating a further 17th century gatepier with engaged column, now partly obscured by foliage. Sections of high and low rubble walls extend to the northeast.

The tower house was probably begun by James, 1st Lord Hamilton in the 1470s and underwent frequent remodelling. It was later reported to have been blown up by the Earl of Morton in 1570. The large palace range, attached to the northeast corner of the tower, was probably constructed around 1553 to 1555. The second Marquess of Hamilton likely extended it in the 1620s. Anne, Duchess of Hamilton initiated further work in the 1670s, remodelling the tower as a formal centrepiece and adding the linking towers with pyramidal roofs, intended as part of a U-plan symmetrical building. The proposed southeast block to balance the northeast palace block was never built.

Kinneil House remained the property of the Hamiltons until 1936 when sold to the burgh of Bo'ness, which granted permission for demolition. The gutted main tower was saved from total destruction when painted decoration was discovered in the palace range. Restoration work on the wall and ceiling paintings was carried out in 1936–38 by John Houston. Reroofing and replacement of rainwater goods occurred in 1980. Much land to the east and southeast has since been developed with modern housing.

The house had two notable 18th and 19th century tenants: Dr John Roebuck, founder of the Carron Iron Works, lived there from 1764–94; and the moral philosopher Dugald Stewart was resident from 1809–28.

The tower sits on the line of the Antonine Wall, a scheduled monument and part of the Antonine Wall World Heritage Site.