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Athlone House, formerly known as Caen Wood Towers, is a large Victorian house in Highgate, north London, England.
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. It lies on the northern edge of Hampstead Heath, from which it can be seen.
It was home to several important industrialists until the early 1940s, when it was acquired by the Royal Air Force. It was later a National Health Service home for people with dementia until 2003, when it was left derelict. In 2016, Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman bought the house and restored it for use as a modern family home.
In 1869, Brooke came from Manchester to London and bought Lord Dufferin’s estate at Highgate. Shortly after, he had the house, originally named Caen Wood Towers, built on this property.North Wales Chronicle (Bangor), 18 October 1890, Issue 3280
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 folly of the time.
In 1877, Brooke's first wife, Jane, died and in the following year he married Frances Amyand Bellairs, daughter of the Reverend Henry Walford Bellairs. The Standard (London) 24 December 1877, p. 1.
Brooke was a partner in the firm of Brooke, Simpson and Spiller, who were aniline dye manufacturers in London. He became a Justice of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, for the City of London and for the Caernarfonshire. He was also one of Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Lieutenancy of the City of London. 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.
Brooke left Caen Wood Towers in about 1885 and Francis Reckitt and his family came to live in the house.UK Census of 1891
Reckitt was born in 1827 in Lincolnshire. He lived for some years in Hull where the Reckitt and Sons company was based and later moved to Hessle. He was twice widowed and had numerous children before he married Eliza Louisa Whitlock in 1877.United Kingdom Births Deaths and Marriages The 1891 Census shows the family living at Caen Wood Towers and at this time there were four children still living with them. One of them was his son Francis William Reckitt who was an artist.
Francis Reckitt became wealthy and donated a great deal of money to establish public institutions. For example, in 1897 he paid for the Newland Homes Francis Reckitt House for infants. He also provided the funds to establish a new reference library within an existing library in Hull in 1890.The Yorkshire Herald, and The York Herald, 5 November 1890; pg. 5; The Reckitt Convalescent Home (now demolished) was built in 1907 with money donated by Francis.
Reckitt left Caen Wood Towers in about 1900 and Sir Francis Cory-Wright became the owner.
Cory-Wright was born in 1839; his father was Lieutenant William Wright of the Rifle Brigade. He was educated privately and entered the firm of William Cory and Sons at the age of 21. He became Chief of the company in 1888 and was credited with the large development of this firm which followed his appointment.
In 1868 he married Mima Owen, the youngest daughter of Sir Hugh Owen. They had two sons and three daughters. Cory-Wright was very interested in local affairs, particularly in the Highgate area. He led the movement to save for public use the area then called Churchyard Bottom, now Queen's WoodObituary of Sir Francis Cory-Wright, The Times (London) 31 May 1909; pg. 9
Cory-Wright died at Caen Wood Towers in 1909. His widow remained at the house until 1911 when it was sold to Thomas Frame Thompson, who died two years later in a shooting accident. The property was then sold in 1914 to Charles Henry Watson who also owned a home called Ashmount in Hampstead; in 1919 he sold Caen Wood Towers to Sir Robert Waley Cohen.The Times (London), 9 October 1919; pg. 13
Waley Cohen was born in London in 1877. His father was Nathaniel Louis Cohen and his mother was Julia Waley, daughter of Jacob Waley, Professor at University College, London. After Waley Cohen left Cambridge University he entered the Shell Company, eventually becoming its Managing Director.The Times (London), 29 November 1952; pg. 8
In 1904 he married Alice Violet Beddington and the couple had two sons and a daughter. 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.The Times (London), 25 January 1935; pg. 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.
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. A description of the training given during the war at the house is contained in the book Shot Down and on the Run.
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.
Following the end of the war, training continued at RAF Highgate until 1948 when the Air Ministry decided that the School should move to the Air Ministry building as they were de-requisitioning the property. 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 site was acquired by the Ministry of Health in 1951, renamed Athlone House in 1955 as part of the Middlesex Hospital Group, and converted into a pre-convalescent home for those not well enough to go to The Middlesex Hospital's Convalescent Home in Clacton. A new building was added for geriatric care.
In January 2016, the Evening Standard reported that the house had been sold for about £20 million and that the new owners had contacted Camden Council "to discuss refurbishment plans", which were thought to include keeping the original house and building flats in the large gardens.
In April 2016, it was reported in the Sunday Times that the Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman had purchased Athlone House for £65 million.
Under Fridman's ownership, extensive restoration work was carried out including roofing works, major structural repairs, restoration of stonework and brickwork, replacement of perished timbers, damp-proofing and replacement of all windows. The restoration was designed by architects SHH. The new roof won an award for Best Use of a Heritage Roof at the Pitched Roofing Awards 2021.
2003 to the present day
The hospital was closed in 2003 and the site was sold to Dwyer Investments. 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. The original house was sold in 2006 to a Kuwaiti businessman of the Kharafi family for a reported £16 million. Planning permission to build a new house on the site was refused by Camden Council in 2010, and the refusal upheld by the Planning Inspectorate in 2011. Athlone House decision, The Planning Inspectorate, 21 April 2011. In 2014 the developers Athlone House Limited again appealed against the decision to the Planning Inspectorate, but this was rejected in June 2015 after objections from The Highgate Society, which raised a 5,000-signature petition to preserve the house. Objection letter, The Highgate Society, January 2014.
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