When architect David Henderson built Inverleith House for Sir James Rocheid of Inverleith and his family in 1774, the building crowned Rocheid’s sprawling estate for only £4,109.

Circa 1820, a portion of Rocheid's land became the formative grounds of the eminent Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). The Garden expanded in 1877 to envelop the entire estate, and today, RBGE stands as an internationally respected institution for horticultural conservation—not to mention a tranquil escape from its urban surroundings.

After serving as the official living quarters of the RBGE director, Inverleith House became the site of the first Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in 1960. The museum eventually outgrew Inverleith House (named a historic building in 1970), and moved in 1984 to the significantly larger estate comprising John Watson’s Institution—a former school dating back to the 1760s—in the western region of Edinburgh. Two years later, Inverleith House was integrated back into RBGE as a garden-owned exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art.

In the 30-plus years that Inverleith House has operated through RBGE, the gallery has hosted a rotating program of landmark shows by some of the modern and contemporary art world's leading figures; including German mixed-media artist Isa Genzken, American sculptor John Chamberlain, the irreverent American painter and sculptor Dan Colen, and Swiss painter and sculptor Nicolas Party.

The gallery now centers its program on the symbiotic relationships between art, science, and nature.