The "new" Auchinleck House was built "circa" 1760 by Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, 8th Laird of Auchinleck. It later passed on to his son, James Boswell, the biographer of Samuel Johnson. Boswell and Johnson visited the house in 1773 on their way back from their journey to the Hebrides. In 1782, James Boswell became the 9th Laird of Auchinleck. His wife Margaret Boswell catalogued the houses's valuable library of books in 1783. The design of the house has been attributed to Robert Adam, although it may have been designed by Alexander Boswell himself.