The house was built in 1932 by Col. and Mrs. Rickets and given the name ‘Rough’ because of the wooded nature of the plot.
The following year Col. Nicholson and his wife Phyllis bought it together with an adjacent acre of woodland, then full of oaks. Phyllis wrote a best-selling book in the 1930s, ‘Norney Rough’, detailing life in the house, whilst Col. Nicholson kept a diary which is reproduced elsewhere on this site.
The website editor has a copy of the book if you would like to read it.