Athlone House

Built around 1872, it was designed by Edward Salomons and John Philpot in an intricate style, particularly as to shape and brickwork, blending Dutch and classical influences.

[2] The house is chiefly a mixture of classical architecture and neo-Gothic crenular with a tall dutch gable making up the pinnacle of the façade in front of a multi-turreted tower and with long, narrow Tudor-style chimneys on the left wing.

A variety of stone and brick materials is therefore used in appropriate sections and the building is similar to the generally smaller follies of the time.

[2] A book published in 1880, entitled A series of picturesque views of seats of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, included a colour engraving of Caen Wood Towers and a descriptive article about Edward Brooke and the house.

His father Isaac had founded the firm and he and his brother Sir James Reckitt were directors of the company at the time he lived at Caen Wood Towers.

Sir Francis Cory-Wright was Chief[clarification needed] of William Cory and Sons, a large coal distribution firm.

While they lived at Caen Wood they held numerous social events at the house and Lady Waley Cohen often allowed the gardens to be used for fetes and parties for girls' clubs, Boy Scouts, and to raise money for charity.

[16] Lady Waley Cohen died in 1935 but Sir Robert continued to live at Caen Wood Towers until about 1942 when it was taken over by the RAF.

The site, officially named Royal Air Force Station Highgate, occupied the grounds and outbuildings of the Caen Wood estate.

Most of the instruction was given by visiting specialists (from the Air Ministry, MI6, MI9, Central Interpretation Unit at RAF Medmenham and Station X at Bletchley Park).

[17] During World War II, over 6,000 officers of the British services (including dominion and Allied Forces attached to the RAF) attended intelligence training courses at the house.

[18] In late 1944, the school was hit twice by German V-1 flying bombs causing damage to the buildings and injuring a number of staff.

RAF Highgate (Caen Wood Towers) was handed over to the Ministry of Health in 1951 and its previous role remained an Official Secret until 2005 when files (such as the unit's Form 540) were declassified and made available to the public in the National Archives.

The wing added in the 1940s and a 1970s extension were demolished, and three new blocks of luxury apartments built in their stead, called Kenwood Place.

[23] In April 2016, it was reported in the Sunday Times that the Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman had purchased Athlone House for £65 million.