If you click the Strutt & Parker estate agent link in post #4 it now comes up as "The property you requested is no longer available. This may be because it has been sold or withdrawn from the market" I was talking with a friend who I met there in the mid 60's about it. He remarked on how cheap it was, terraced houses in Notting Hill go for that amount and they're just 'terraced houses'.
I know I'm new here, and so therefore I don't want to act as a forum policeman, but this thread is surely about Mamhead House and not about skullduggery in the international financial sector.
Crikey bryony, that's a very high horse, you be careful up there.
If your interested then these photo's may prove interesting. http://www.panoramio.com/user/1523345/tags/Dawlish%20College
The ceilings are stunning aren't they? I spent 3 years there 1966-69 and I don't remember the ceilings at all, probably just keeping my head down.
There is more about it's history as a boarding school for boys on wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamhead Also I note it is up for sale at £8million http://search.struttandparker.com/residential/property/6926?from=home