Designed by Charles William Knight, the castle was completed in 1906,[4] at a total cost of $140,000. Knight initially operated Stone Barn Castle as a dairy farm, but was unable to recoup the costs of building it and had to file for bankruptcy after around eleven years.[1][5]
Attempts were made to convert the building to a country club or a night club, but both were unsuccessful.[6] A fire destroyed much of the castle in 1946.[5] For the next twenty years, the building continued to deteriorate and accumulate vandalism and graffiti.[6][3]
The building was purchased in 1970 by Robert Hugel, who began restoring it with his wife, Alison.[5] They operated the building as a museum, and hosted events on sitesuch as weddings and, around halloween, used the building as a 'haunted castle'. In 2003, the couple retired and transferred ownership to their son, William,[1] and daughter, Catherine.[2] He began efforts to redevelop the house into an art center, with a summer residency program.[5] The Hugels sold the house to actor Adrien Brody in 2007 for $650,000. Brody spent has worked extensively on further renovating the house since purchasing it.[4][7][2] A documentary about the renovation premiered at South by Southwest in March 2015.[8][9]
Stone Barn Castle is not open to the public.[4]
