English mechanical engineer George Stephenson, builder of the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, leased the house from the family from 1832 until his death in 1848.

The house then was bought by Charles Paxton Markham, Director of Staveley Coal and Iron Company and three times Mayor of the town, in 1871 and became the family home until 1925, when he gave the 200 acres (0.81 km2) of parkland to the Borough of Chesterfield.

George Stephenson, born in 1781, had already become a nationally known figure before he came to Chesterfield in the 1830s to construct the North Midland Railway which stretches 72 miles (116 km) from Derby to Leeds.

His son Robert designed the historically important steam locomotive named Rocket for the Rainhill Trials at Liverpool in 1829.

It is designed to provide modern accommodation to stimulate innovation and nurture growth amongst technology- and knowledge-based business.