How I lit up Searchlight Manor
Transformed: House that played key role guarding Britain from Luftwaffe
DURING the Second World War it played a crucial role in Britain’s air defence – serving as the base for a Home Guard searchlight unit that helped our antiaircraft batteries and fighter squadrons repel night-time bombing raids by the Luftwaffe.
Russells House was chosen for the role because of its proximity to RAF Leavesden, an airfield and military plane factory near Watford in Hertfordshire. And it’s just about possible that the property even played some small role in the creation of the classic TV series Dad’s Army – about the antics of a Home Guard unit.
While the searchlight team was busy protecting the RAF base, just down the road Jimmy Perry – who went on to co-write Dad’s Army, and who sadly died last week – was also serving in the Watford Home Guard and may even have visited the house.
Perry joined the Home Guard in Watford as a teenager – and drew on the experience when writing Dad’s Army, even basing one character, Private Pike, on himself.
After the war, Russells House found a more genteel use as a retirement home – but then it lay derelict for a decade after being devastated by a fire. Happily, though, the poten- tial of the Grade II-listed house was spotted by developers – and it was converted into elegant apartments.
And one of those flats has undergone a particularly startling transformation in recent years. Interior designer Eva Hamilton has turned a first-floor apartment into a gleaming and elegant space, while keeping its Georgian features.
The two-bedroom flat was bought by Eva and her doctor husband Mark five years ago for £500,000, and the couple have used Eva’s expertise to restore it to its original splendour while adding an array of luxurious modern features.
‘I wanted to take advantage of the flat’s natural grandeur, such as the 15ft ceilings and cornicing, but add new touches,’ Stuttgart-born Eva, 48, says. ‘Because it is listed I had to work with conservation officers, and we were not allowed to alter anything structural, such as the walls.’
Eva and Mark, 53, bought their 1,658sqft flat from an elderly woman and Eva set about transforming it. ‘After spending four months planning, we got all the work done in nine weeks before we moved in, using a team of ten builders,’ she says.
Eva made dramatic additions to the property. One – a vast mirror hanging in the living room – she found in a clearance sale at Harrods, while the Swarovski chandelier gracing the second bathroom she managed to pick up at a London dealer’s for a bargain price. The most modern-looking room is the kitchen, which Eva has styled in a sleek Italian fashion with marble worktops, high-gloss cabinets and a chandelier from lighting specialists Artemide. Other notable features include the huge limestone tiles covering the walls and floor in the master bathroom.
Now Eva wants to take on a new project and the couple have put the flat on the market for £975,000. But it is unlikely they will find a new home with such a varied history.
Russells House was built in 1718 for the Dowager Countess of Essex and was adjacent to Cassiobury Park, the seat of the Earl of Essex. Then it would have stood in the Hertfordshire countryside. Now the town of Watford has grown around it.
Other notable residents include William Copeland, a former Lord Mayor of London, (who used the grounds to breed racehorses), the Maharajah of the Indian state of Baroda (one of the world’s richest men at the time), and General Colville (who served on the Duke of Wellington’s staff at the Battle of Waterloo).
EVA’S flat, which has a cellar for storage and a garage, has no private outside space but all of Russells House’s residents can use the threeacre garden, featuring 300-year-old cedar trees, and a large car park. For golf enthusiasts, The Grove is a fiveminute walk away.
Eva sees the flat as ideal for a young couple, maybe involved in the film business. It is near the Warner Bros Studios, built on the site of the airfield and factory the house was once used to protect. Elstree Studios, where TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing are made, is also nearby.
Sue Trybus, of selling agents Savills, says: ‘The flat is elegant and blends a crisp modern interior with period features. It straddles country living with London life.’
Savills.co.uk