BOYHOOD DREAM

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 148, 19 December 1929, Page 31

BOYHOOD DREAM

LAVISHLY REALISED

HOUSE THAT COST £100,000

Samuel Wallroek, a London estate agent, who cays he hates the word luxury, has built himself a Tudor manor house, at a cost of £100,000, in order to realise his boyhood dream of a perfect home. He wanted to possess "the loveliest home in England"; and, after he had sold a block, of London flats for half a million, he felt he could aSord it. To-day he is the owner of the Manor House, Stanmore, Middlesex, which with its Tudor dining-room, its Empire drawing-room, its old oak beams brought from villages all over England, and its pink onyx bathroom, " has already cost welj over £100,000. Samuel Wallroek was twelve years old when he first went to London as an office boy at five shillings a week, but he had opened his own estate office at the age of sixteen. And he went on dreaming of the perfect house he was to own one day. A representative of the "Sunday Express" visited Stanmore, and this is how he describes his experiences and impressions:— When I asked Mr. Wallroek if he would show me over his house ho said: '' It would take a month to see everything, but I have an hour to spare, so let us see what I can do." He showed me first the gate house, designed by a friend, who said that it was an ideal spot for such a building. "My original intention was to build an £800 house there," said Mr. Wallrock, "but my friend said, 'You must have a Tudor gate house,' and I had one. "I had to buy up old oak beams all over the country, and when it was completed another friend said that the main building, an 'unpretentious Victorian house which 1 had bought with the land, should be Tudor too. MOSS-GROWN TILES. "I searched the country for red, moss-covered tiles for the roof,'and at last I collected 50,000 of them. Each one was packed as carefully as an antique with the 100-year-old moss still on it. I have even had them laid with a sag in them, to make them look older. "And there they are now," and Mr. Wallroek pointed to the roof, '' and the moss is there too. You can't grow moss like that in less than a hundred years." Mr. Wallroek led me through the Tudor oak front door to'the hall lounge. Just on the left is an old oak cupboard, which conceals a loud speaker. : "You wouldn't have thought there was a loud speaker there?" asked Mr. Wallroek. • "■■ ' v. I shook my head. ■'■■'■'" "As a matter of fact, " he said, "there is-a loud speaker concealed in every room in the house, including the bathroom." - ; We entered the Tudor dining-room. Its walla are covered with panelling from the late Lord Leverhulme's estate, its chairs are exact replicas of the velvet chairs in Winchester Cathedra], and the painted ceiling' includes the Wallroek rebus, a wall and a rock, designed by the artist. On the floor is a real Persian carpet, exactly the right size, exactly the right shade. "It took me years to find that carpet," said Mr; WaUrock. - We crossed the lounge again and discovered a copy of Magna Charta hanging on the wall. "The only other copy-in the world besides the one in the British - Mnsou'ni," said Mr. Wnllfock. "Then we entered the Empire drawingroom, with panels brought from Paris, and pricoless pieces of Empire furniture arranged around the walls. Mr,; Wallroek is one of the greatest horticulturists in Britain, and some of his. lovely/ chrysanthemums;filled a corner of the' room.;: ' "!'.'" . ' .", We climbed the'carved oak staircase which Mr. Wallroek explained had been copied by woodcarvers imported from all over the. country, from some old designs he discovered in 7a Worcestershire village. ' • .:. OLASB 400 YEARS OLD. : The windows oh the first landing are of leaded glass 400 years old, and in each window there is let in a panel, showing the arms of Mr. Wallroek'g regiment, the arms of Mr. Wallroek's son's school, the arms 6t the Gonnty of Middlesex, and the arms of-the Incorporated Society of Auctioneers, of which he is a past president. And then we came to the bathroom. Mr. Wallroek's bathroom is probably the most delightful w the world. Its walls are made of pink onyx, which floods the room with a warm rose glow. •••■-. ; ''It was the only consignment oi; pink onyx which has come from German East Africa," said Mr. Wallroek; "so I ..bought the lot." The door is Tudor outside and French inside. Mr. Wallroek explained that as Tudor oak does not match pink onyx, and as a' French door does not match Tudor oak, he was obliged to make two doors and have them welded together. I mentioned the word "luxury," but Mr. Wallroek interrupted me with: "Don't mention that word. I hate it. , This is a comfortable bathroom, of course, and it is nice to listen to the j wireless, but please don't .mention luxury." We inspected the day nursery, painted in sunshine yellow, and filled with wonderful toys, the night nursery with its painted ceilings, showing the stars. and the moon, the nursery bathroom, the servants' bathroom, and the up-to-date kitchen, which is the envy of one of the best chefs in London. Mr. Wallroek has twenty-two gardens, and employs 120 workmen and gardeners. . Each garden can be illuminated at night by searchlights. At each corner of the grounds are iron gates superbly wrought by a London blacksmith. The drought, which has caused some of his trees to wither, has cost him £10,000. The shrubs and plants in one bed alone are worth £15,000. "It's a jolly good job," said Mr. Wallroek, "that there are no horticultural burglars in England!" OLD AND NEW. Close to the side of Mr. Wallroek's four tennis courts is the guest house, a thatched cottage which looks as if it had been there for centuries. "It was only finished a month or two ago, though the oak beams are old enough," he explained. The guest house is a complete littlb house by itself with a sitting-room, bathroom, and bedroom complete. The bedroom is an exact copy of a Tudor bedroom, except that the sheets on the beds are spotless. I thought I bad seen everything until Mr. Wallroek said: "Here, come this way." I'll show yon something that is unique in the w0r1d."... . Ho. showed it to me. It is certainly unique, it is a Tudor, garage.