America Lodge

This morning we went to a blue plaque unveiling by the Torquay Civic Society. It was in honour of a building, a sumptuous beautiful villa, rather than one person. It was , among others, formerly the home of Lady Henrietta Churchill, who died in 1862, and also  Dowager Lady Jane Carew in 1855.Importantly it was one of the first Queen Elizabeth Homes of Recovery for the rehabilitation of civilians blinded in the war, and was presented by the The War Relief Society of America, and opened August 1941. Now it is a private home.
 Originally this house had a ‘serpentine carriage drive, 11 bedrooms, 2 dressing rooms, capital domestic offices, a 3 stall stable with loft, double coach house, harness and box rooms’.
It eventually proved inadequate to house the growing number of patients and in 1950 the Manor House  in Middle Lincombe  Road was purchased to provide vocational rehabilitation for a further 65 residents.
The Manor House was closed in 2004 and it was converted into part of a retirement village in 2007