Inside A Former PM’s Scandalous Summer Retreat Complete With Secret Tunnels

Owning a home once used by a former Prime Minister as his summer retreat should be a guaranteed dinner party boast. But what may seem like an upstanding credential of this historic home, is actually one stained by secrecy. For Hurstly was more than a mere summer retreat, but the spot where Lord Herbert Henry Asquith conducted his scandalous extra-marital affair, which threatened to spill state secrets.

Discover The Secrets Of Hurstly

The History

Borrowing the house summer after summer from his cousin who owned this historic Sandy Down property, Asquith would continiously use the New Forest bolthole to meet up with his mistress of many years: the (much younger) socialite Venetia Stanley.

Thankfully for the current owners, many records survive of Asquith’s residence, largely in the form of his own letters, where he described Hurstly as a ‘nice little villa in the New Forest’ (not sure ‘little’ is the adjective we’d used for this five bedroom home). However, the most noteworthy records are the ones which detail his affair with Venetia. One thing about Asquith, he was bad at keeping a secret.

The affair started in 1912 when Asquith, then 59, found himself falling for his daughter Violet’s 24-year-old friend while staying at Hurstly with his wife, family and friends. It was while sat in the dining room table with Venetia, he realised he was in love: ‘I’m sitting with her in the dining room on Sunday morning, others being out in the garden or walking, and we were talking and laughing, just on our old accustomed terms. Suddenly, in a single instant, without premonition on my part or any challenge on hers, scales dropped from my eyes. The familiar features and smiling gestures and words assumed an absolutely new perspective. What had been completely hidden from me was in a flash, half revealed and I dimly felt hardly knowing, not at all understanding it, that I had come to a turning point in my life.’

Leading Britain as Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916, Lord Asquith carried the country through the start of the First World War. Luckily for him, his beloved Venetia was not a secret German spy – something that would have proved a problem for a man prone to sharing important memos and secret documents with his lover turned confidant. He would sometimes write to her up to three times a day, enclosing telegrams and top secret documents within the easily accessible envelopes. It was, however, this obsessive sharing of classified information which eventually brought down Asquith’s government, with the PM reportedly chucking secret documents from his car window after having shown them to her. 

Much of this information about their home’s scandalous former resident was ‘handed to [the current owners] on a silver plate’ by writer Robert Harris, who wrote about Venetia and Asquith’s affair in his novel Precipice. Weaving together fact and fiction, the book contains extracts from many of the letters written from and about this very home.

Much of the records that survive about Asquith and the home were collated by later owners Lord and Lady Shackleton, who lived here during the 60s. And with Lord Shackleton serving as Minister of Northern Ireland during The Troubles, the house experienced tightened security.

While doing building work on Hurstly’s courtyard, the current owners discovered a blocked off stairwell which seems to lead below the cellar. The builders went down into the excavated area only to find an extra hidden layer beneath the house complete with a woodburning stove. While co-owner Sue Leach doesn’t want to speculate, she presumes that this secret passage leads to the two houses that adjoin their courtyard and may have been designated as an escape route for the much-threatened politician during these contentious political times.

Step Inside

It was the storied past of this Arts & Crafts home which first drew Sue towards it: ‘It just oozes history and heritage. The wood panelling is to die for, the Arts and Crafts details with stained glass windows. The whole facade at the front with the wisteria climbing up… it just has gravitas and character.’ Hurstly was first built in 1989 by John Barnard, before it was bought by successful carpet manufacturer William Eustace Firth who extended the house to use as a country retreat.

For an old home, Hurstly is remarkably light and airy (‘we’re big fans of light; it’s essential for us. For a period house, it’s remarkable really’). The sitting room (her favourite room) has large windows overlooking the front and garden. ‘It’s a huge room. I walked in and thought “this is our party room”.’ Other gorgeous features include the vintage-look of the mint green kitchen and the delightfully pink bathroom.

The surrounding area of Sandy Down was another big draw for the owners who enjoy the peace and quiet provided by the neighbourhood. Surely if this summer retreat was relaxing enough for a Prime Minister, it should do perfectly well for anybody not in charge of running a country. ‘We haven’t needed to do anything to embellish it,’ Sue says of the garden, ‘because of all the trees. There are trees that have been there for decades. It’s beautiful and enclosed, peaceful. We’ll miss it.’

On the market for £2m. Find out more at johndwood.co.uk