Hanstead House

Sir David Yule (1858–1928) was a Scottish entrepreneur who went into the family business, which was trade with India, then the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire.

[2] A later owner of the property wrote: "In 1925 Sir David decided to build for himself a mansion on this 1200 acre [4.9 km²] estate, located only five miles [8 km] from the northwest edge of London.

The Mausolea and Monuments Trust says that the sculpture itself is a draped chair with inscription from Kipling's Jungle Book and a box tomb showing his Indian jute mills and plantations.

The deaths of these two only children, at a time of high inheritance tax, meant that in 1957 a substantial number of British-bred Arabian horses left the country, improving the breed's bloodlines elsewhere.

[7] Following the death of Gladys Yule in 1957, Hanstead Park was put on the market, where it remained uncared for over a considerable period of time.

In 1959 it was brought to the attention of the American evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong, who had arrived in England looking for a larger office for the British branch of his Radio Church of God.

By the time of the purchase the guest house had already been sold separately, as a private home, to Mr Philip and Mrs Eileen Hubbard, who lived there with their daughter Vivien until 1970.

Armstrong wrote in Chapter 72 of his autobiography that Trans World Airlines (TWA) had been considering Hanstead House as a school for stewardesses.

"Yet this mansion, with these outstanding gardens, the aviary, greenhouses, cedars of Lebanon, all finally came to us for £8,000 ($22,800) - the not uncommon price of a five- or six-room cottage on a forty- or fifty-foot lot in America, - and that on terms that gave us several years to pay."

Improvements were made to the grounds: tennis courts, track, gymnasium, and an Olympic standard (imperial measurements) indoor swimming pool.

[10] The estate agent's particulars pointed out that the house is not a listed building, nor is the land a conservation area, meaning that the developer would be somewhat freer of constraints than in many similar sites.

[11] One of the St Congar directors referred to Hanstead Park as a brownfield site, i.e. previously developed land,[12] although it sits within the Green Belt.

In 2018 the site was sold by St Congar and its partner Europa Capital to a joint venture between Linden Homes and Wates Developments.