Tappen House

Georgian villa occupied by Dutch secret agents during World War Two

Tappen House, formally called Glenlea, was built for Charles Druce in 1804 to the designs of George Tappen, the then surveyor of Alleyn’s Estate. Its main architectural feature is an Ionic portico facing the main road.

Between January 1943 and April 1945 the house was occupied by 34 wartime Dutch agents and code-named ‘Huize Anna’. The agents were trained to undertake intelligence work in the occupied Netherlands where they were dropped by parachute from Royal Air Force aircraft. Of the 34 agents, 16 were killed in the war. In 1985, one surviving agent, Braham Grisnigt, came back to Dulwich to speak at a meeting of the Dulwich Society.

The house was sold in 1988. The subsequent owner changed its name from Glenlea to Tappen House.

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