Homes for film buffs: famous TV and film studios transformed into new homes in Teddington, Shepperton and Denham
Hollywood heart-throb Errol Flynn's 1934 screen debut in Murder at Monte Carlo was filmed at Teddington Studios, long before TV comedy legends Tommy Cooper, Benny Hill and Morecambe and Wise recorded shows there.
Sitcoms Birds of a Feather and The Office as well as Minder, Rumpole and Rock Follies were also made at the Thames-side complex in Richmond borough, but it closed in 2014, leaving an empty compound.
The site has been brought back to life with a new development of 217 homes, including waterfront apartments, townhouses and a restored weir cottage split into a pair of duplexes.
Now called Teddington Riverside, homes are selling fast off-plan despite the lacklustre property market.
Prices start at £1,632,000 for three-bedroom flats. Call 020 7349 0091.
Buyers have priority membership of The Lensbury upmarket hotel and spa next door which has boating facilities, tennis courts and lawns sweeping down to the riverbank, where a footbridge is suspended above the lowest non-tidal lock on the Thames.
Residents can make use of a courtesy car shuttle to the local train station, where services to Waterloo take from 36 minutes.
New homes in Shepperton: the home of box office hits
Shepperton is also synonymous with film-making — Star Wars, Harry Potter and Gladiator — and Netflix has set up a production facility there.
Halliford Studios opened in Shepperton in the Fifties to cater for the emerging commercial TV market. As Old Halliford Place, the site now offers 24 houses and flats.
In a quintessential Surrey village, the homes are only half a mile from Shepperton train station. Prices from £325,000. Call Shanly Homes on 01372 225007.
Denham Film Studios
Another slice of Hollywood in the home counties is The Denham Film Studios.
Built in 1935 for renowned producer Alexander Korda, it's where Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining were edited, and also where the Star Wars theme was recorded.
Weston Homes is transforming the Buckinghamshire site into 224 homes, and has unveiled The Lester, four-bedroom family homes that include a Star Wars-themed bedroom to excite children's imaginations.
From £745,000. Call 01895 527830.
