Draughton Lodge in 1962 [Z53/54/30]

60 High Street, or Mulberry Lodge, was listed by the former Department of Environment as Grade II (of special interest), it was stated to be late 17th or early 18th century. The house originally comprised three bays with a further two being added to the south end later. It is built of coursed limestone rubble and has a thatched roof, with stone coping; the house is a single storey with attics above.

Front of 60 High Street - Mulberry Lodge in May 2008

In 1927 property in Harrold was valued under the Rating & Valuation Act of 1925; every piece of land and building in the country had to be valued to determine the rates to be paid upon it. The valuer visiting Draughton Lodge, as it was then called [DV1/C71/24 60] noted that the owner and occupier was Alfred Bell Wiggins. The property occupied 0.432 acres and comprised a dining room, kitchen, pantry and scullery, office, and drawing room downstairs; two "good" bedrooms, three small bedrooms, a box room and a bathroom and wc were upstairs in the attics. Outside were a brick and slate range comprising a tool shed, two coal sheds, a washhouse and two garages (one annotated "Austin 7" the other "small"); the garden was "small but very nice" and contained two small greenhouses (one heated).

60 High Street in July 2008

The valuer made a number of remarks: "No light or central heating"; "Lovely, very lettable"; "Rooms small"; "A very charming cottage - only thing against it is roof a bit low - very nice inside - Back looks a bit bad from road". Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has a number of directories, none of those for the 19th century mention the house but those for 1914, 1920, 1928, 1931 and 1936 show the occupier as Alfred Bell Wiggins, that of 1940 Edgar Clayson.