David Olusoga explores the house's history from the 1880s to the First World War, a period that saw the property sliding down the social scale and turning from a family home to a multiple occupancy. He discovers how a resident responded to the death of his baby daughter by opening a milk bar for the temperance movement, only to get into legal trouble for watering down his product. David also discovers the story behind a mysterious occupant who lived in the house under a pseudonym and learns how the battle of Passchendaele changed the residents' lives forever.