Undershaw: Counting the Cost
Undershaw: Counting the Cost is an article written by Christopher Roden published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 7, 1996/7).
The article analyzes the detailed financial records kept by Arthur Conan Doyle for the construction and furnishing of his house Undershaw at Hindhead, listing land purchase, building costs, and household expenditures. It compares the total cost recorded in Conan Doyle's bank book with modern values to illustrate the scale of the investment and Conan Doyle's financial standing at the time.
Undershaw: Counting the Cost
The high cost of building — and eventually owning — a home of one's own is well known to many of us. It was no different for Arthur Conan Doyle, who kept a detailed record of the expenditure he incurred while building his new home, Undershaw, at Hindhead in Surrey.
The bank account book in which ACD recorded these details was sold at a recent auction and, through the generosity of the new owner, Dr C. Frederick Kittle, we are able to make some of the information contained therein available to readers of this Journal.
ACD recorded that the land cost £1,000, to which had to be added various periodic payments to his builder, which totalled a further £4,250. The summarised listing in ACD's own hand notes further expenditures as follows: 'To garden £189; to architect £257; to electric plant £550; to hothouse £15; new furniture and trimmings including carriages & saddlery & windows £1,688. Total expended on Undershaw 7,899'.
How does that compare with the cost of a home today? Well, using various accepted methods of comparing modern day values with those ruling around the end of last century, we arrive at a figure of some £265,700. Today that would probably not buy more than a reasonably basic, and certainly not over-large home in rural Surrey, and we may well consider that ACD certainly received good value for his money — of course, it is to be noted that he employed the builder rather than buying a completed house, thereby saving himself a considerable sum.
ACD's bank book also reveals minor items under the heading 'furniture': for example, we learn that he spent £84 (1997 = £2,825) furnishing his billiard room, but how this was broken down he does not say. His carriages cost a further £183.
His closing statement on the page detailing his expenditure notes: 'Add to this all original furniture and allow for increased value of land and house furnished represents £10,000 (1997 = £336,365) — some indication of his standing at that time.
Christopher Roden
| Total | |
| To Land | 1000 |
| To Builder | 4250 |
| To garden | 189 |
| To architect | 257 |
| To Electric plant | 550 |
| To Hothouse | 15 |
| New furniture & trimmings Including carriages & saddlery & windows |
1688 |
| Total expended on Undershaw | 7899 |
| with extras | £8000 |
| Add to this all original furniture and allow for increased value of land and house furnished represents | £10000. |
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
