Earlier Houses: There was at least one earlier house on, or near, the site of the 19th century house.
Built / Designed For: Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd Bt.
House & Family History: In the 1840s the banker Sir John Lubbock erected a new house at High Elms in a classical Italian style. The money that built the house came from the London banking house of Lubbock & Co. (in 1914 its successor, Robarts, Lubbock & Co., merged with Coutts & Co.). But Sir John wasn't just a banker—he was also a noted mathematician and astronomer (in 1834 the Royal Society awarded him the Royal Medal for the studies he carried out on the tides). Sir John's son, later 1st Baron Avebury, a prominent public figure of his day, was responsible for the Open Spaces Act of 1896, a law that gives local government authorities the power to acquire open space for public use. In 1938 the High Elms Estate was sold to Kent County Council, who used the house as nurses' training school. A 1967 fire destroyed the house; the grounds are today a public park.
Garden & Outbuildings: Today a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (in the mid-19th century High Elms was populated with trees collected from around the world), High Elms encompasses 250 acres of countryside, formal gardens, and a golf course. Though the house is gone, a number of outbuildings are extant, including the Grade II-listed, 19th century Eton Fives Court, which was designed to play a form of handball developed at Eton College in the 19th century. At its height in the 19th century the estate spanned 3,000 acres. The Lubbocks were friends of Charles Darwin, who lived at nearby Down House.
House Listed: Demolished
Park Listed: Not Listed
Past Seat / Home of: SEATED AT EARLIER HOUSES: Sir John William Lubbock, 2nd Bt., 1809-40. SEATED AT 19TH CENTURY HOUSE: Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd Bt., circa 1843-1865; John Lubbock, 4th. Bt. and 1st Baron Avebury, 1865-1913; John Birkbeck Lubbock, 2nd Baron Avebury, 1913-29.
Current Ownership Type: Government
Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction
Ownership Details: Grounds owned by Bromley Council
House Open to Public: Grounds Only
Historic Houses Member: No