As every reader of The Man in the Brown Suit knows, Agatha Christie dedicated the book “To E.A.B. In memory of a journey, some lion stories, and a request that I should some day write the ‘Mystery of the Mill House.’” Because of the internet, much of the “mystery” of the Mill House has been revealed.

Agatha and her first husband, Archie, went on an around-the-world journey in 1922 as part of Archie’s job with the British Empire Exhibition tour. He served as an assistant to Major Ernest Albert Belcher, the E.A.B. in the dedication.

Part of the journey was to South Africa, the same voyage that Anne Beddingfeld takes in The Man in the Brown Suit, and the character of Sir Eustace Pedler is based on Major Belcher who wanted Agatha to write his home, the Mill House, into one of her books.

The Mill House makes a brief but pivotal appearance in the novel, serving as the scene of a murder involving the brown-suited man before the action moves aboard ship. Anne reads in the newspaper that “A sensational discovery was made yesterday at the Mill House, Marlow.” Major Belcher’s Mill House is Windsor, not Marlow, but both towns are just outside of London, about 30 miles west.

Major Belcher only lived in the house for a few years in the early 1920s. No doubt he welcomed the Christies to Mill House during that time to discuss the British Empire Exhibition. By 1925, Belcher was living in another house nearby, and soon after, he married an Australian woman named Gladys Greenwood. They moved around a bit during their brief marriage, divorcing in 1935.

The Mill House, meanwhile, welcomed new inhabitants. In the 1960s, just after his career took off in a big way, actor Michael Caine purchased it. The property needed work, but Caine seems to have welcomed the challenge. In 1973 he married for a second time and the couple continued to live at the Mill House until their move to Los Angeles in 1979.

Caine sold the Mill House to Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page. Unfortunately, not long after Page moved in, one of the band members, John Bonham, died at the house. The band had retired to Mill House to relax after a long rehearsal for an upcoming North American tour. Bonham had been drinking all day, and eventually, his mates put him to bed to sleep it off. Sometime during the night, he vomited while unconscious and choked to death.

Although it wasn’t his primary residence, Page didn’t sell the house until 2006, buying it back shortly afterward, and finally selling it again in 2008.

The current building is thought to have been built in the 1700s after a fire destroyed the mill house that had been there previously. Records show a mill has been on that property since the 11th century!

Wondering what Sir Eustace/Major Belcher’s Mill House looks like? Then you’re in luck! It’s an AirBnB property so you could rent it and stay there. Plan to spend about $3000, although the website says it is booked for the coming year. Maybe that’s just as well!

Jimmy Page photo by Jim Summaria
Michael Caine photo by Fred Ohert