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Originally called Strathbogie, its first occupant was Sir Adam Gordon of Huntly to whom the castle was granted in the C14. The castle is a five storey L-plan with a particularly fine ornate facade, whose features belie its troubled and bloody past. During the wars of the C15 it was twice burnt, and twice rebuilt, and after the second firing a grander castle was built to replace it, with further wings added in the C16 and C17. In 1640 it was occupied by the Scottish Covenanter army, captured in 1644, and again in 1647 when all the defenders were hanged, and their officers beheaded. By the early C18 Huntly was already in a state of decay, and throughout the century and the next, it was raided for building material. It remained under the ownership of the Clan Gordon until 1923 when it passed into State care, and is now looked after by Historic Scotland.