A Classical mansion and former estate on the outskirts of Kirkcaldy, 2 miles (3 km) north of the town centre, Dunnikier House became a hotel in 1972. The house was built 1791-93 by Edinburgh-based architect Alexander Laing (d.1823) for James Townsend Oswald (1748 - 1814), a wealthy merchant and politician, whose former home (now Path House) was "rendered less agreeable by its situation in the town". His new house comprises a three-storey main block, with its centre advanced and pedimented, and single-storey pavilions.
The hotel remains privately-owned, but the estate is all but gone, giving its name to a northern suburb with even the parkland around the house denuded to form school playing fields, a golf course, a cricket ground and to provide the site for Kirkcaldy Crematorium.