ARTICLE REPRODUCED FROM APRIL 1964 ADULT MAGAZINE ‘HI-LIFE’ (USA)
Ewhurst – A Photography & Film Paradise
‘Ewhurst Manor’ was located at 37 Furzehill Road, Borehamwood and was used by several ITC productions as a filming location, but it had a seamier side at that time in the late 1950s and 60s. It had become a favourite location for the photographing of young ladies in various states of undress and the filming of ‘glamour’ films by a variety of photographers and film-makers, the most famous being George Harrison Marks. The owner of the house, Mrs Doris Clifford, was reputedly a great champion of Marks’ endeavours, and he filmed many 8mm movie shorts and staged numerous photographic glamour shoots at the manor house. The films included Nightmare at Elm Manor (1963) and Visit from Venus (1964) to name two, and Nightmare at Elm Manor (aka Flesh and Fantasie) was filmed both in the grounds and in the house itself in 1963. The glamour photography side involved models such as Margaret Nolan, Lorraine Burnett, June Palmer and Vivienne Warren. Photos can be found in various locations within the house and the grounds themselves. Mrs Clifford encouraged filmmakers to use her property, and she would make a ‘nominal charge’ for the filming and photographic sessions.
Ewhurst – The House & History
The only information concerning ‘Ewhurst Manor’ and the Cliffords has, until now, been sourced from one article in an American adult magazine of the 1960s, Caper. This may be the source of where Ewhurst Manor got its name as it is entirely possible that the name was made up for the feature as the name ‘Ewhurst Manor’ affords significantly more mystique than ’37 Furzehill Road’!
The house itself was south-east facing and was built on the former Whitehouse Farm. The entrance to Ewhurst was via a narrow track road that went past the White House. The house was divided into two distinct properties, which were adjoining: the three-storey main house and the cottage. This was a two-storey building which can be seen to the extreme left of the top picture on this page.
The Whitehouse Farm estate was originally spread over 200 acres. However, this land was gradually sold to cover death duties and declining wealth. By the time Alec Clifford inherited the houses and land, it was necessary to sell off most of the remaining land for similar reasons. By the time Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), the other ITC series and George Harrison Marks filmed at the house, the estate is believed to have been shrunk down to between three and four acres only. The manor house is reputed to have dated back to the 18th century and, along with White House, was originally built as farm dwellings.
Ewhurst Today
Today, nothing survives the Ewhurst Manor or White House estates, bar perhaps a tree or two. A modern housing estate now stands on the Ewhurst Estate, and the Ewhurst name has not survived, not even down to a local road name. Whitehouse Avenue commemorates the White House and part of this road runs parallel to where the front of Ewhurst Manor once stood and cut through the former location of the Ewhurst pond). The houses on Mildred Avenue, which can be seen on the maps above – Widbrook, Beaulieu, Grey Cot and Furze Lodge – remain today. These properties now mark the north-western perimeter of the housing estate built on the site of Elstree Manor.
Original and full article at:
The Camera Club
https://thekameraclub.com/2013/07/02/ewhurst-manor-uncovered/
