Listed in the Domesday Book,[1] the first known occupant of Stoke was Gerbert de Stoke, in 1204.[1] Stoke was held by the Greys of Codnor and sold in the 1460s to the Barlows of Barlow Hall.[1]
The Hall was later occupied by the industrialist Emile Viner, until 1950/1, and was then purchased by Hedley and Ida Abson, becoming a family home.[citation needed][5] After Hedley and Ida died, the Hall was sold in 1972,[citation needed][6] and subsequently used as a hotel and restaurant.[1] It was sold at auction to Richard Jowitt in 1982.[7]
After an incomplete 25-year restoration, Jowitt died, and the house was offered for sale in 2008, with a guide price of £2.75 million,[1] but not sold until 2009 for £2.5 million[3] to a local couple, Steve and Natalie Drury, who have spent a further £1.5 million completing the restoration.[3] Their restoration was shown by the BBC in 2011[2] and 2012.[3]
The main three-storey Georgian house includes the reception hall, five reception rooms, kitchen, breakfast room, master suite, five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a staff apartment.[1] There is also an older north wing.[1] The total floorspace is 14,962 square feet (1,390.0 m2).[1] The drawing room has a chimneypiece by Grinling Gibbons.[1] The building was Grade II* listed on 8 August 1985.[8]
The River Derwent marks the 22.5 acres (9.1 ha) estate's eastern boundary.[1]
