James Miller was one of the leading commercial architects working in Glasgow from the late-19th to the early-20th century. His early career involved designing railway buildings. He set up his own practice in 1892, winning competitons to design many public and commercial buildings, as well as private houses.
Miller won the contract for the Caledonian Railway's Gleneagles Hotel, although the project was completed by the company's own architect Matthew Adam after the First World War. Miller was a keen gardener at his home in Randolphfield, Stirling doing much of the maintenance himself. He died at Randolphfield on 28 November 1947, leaving a substantial estate.