Demolished in 1982, Coventry Hall was originally a villa that once stood in parkland to the east of Streatham High Road and to the north of Streatham Common, predating the construction of Polworth Road. It was built on the site of Howland Manor House for George William Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst and 7th Earl of Coventry (1758-1831). By the time of the 1881 Census, it was the home of banker Otto von der Meden (1828-1906), together with his family and staff. Later incorporated into St. Andrew’s Convent, and subsequently converted into residential apartments, it was much extended by the mid-twentieth century, with added east and north wings shown in the post-war OS map. The Coventry Hall name is retained today for the sheltered housing development built on the adjacent land. This view shows the disused villa’s north elevation, stucco with inscribed pilasters, six windows wide, with a single-storey canted bay spanning two windows width to the right of view. The mansard roof and dormers are believed to be a twentieth-century addition. Most of the windows are boarded and the surrounding grounds strewn with debris including old tyres and oil drums. Residual brickwork to the left of the elevation shows where the demolished east extension once joined the villa. A Ford Transit Diesel pick-up is parked next to the villa, having a large generator, and showing the trade name ‘KAVANAGH & McCRORY LTD’ on the driver’s door. Some of the four-storey apartment blocks of the Albert Carr Gardens Estate are shown in the background.