In 1895, when he commissioned an architect friend of his, Joseph Henry Ball, to build him a home, he played an active part in the design process.[108][109] The home in which he lived from October 1897 to September 1907, known as Undershaw (near Hindhead, in Surrey),[110] was used as a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004, when it was bought by a developer and then stood empty while conservationists and Doyle fans fought to preserve it.[4] In 2012, the High Court in London ruled in favor of those seeking to preserve the historic building, ordering that the redevelopment permission be quashed on the ground that it had not been obtained through proper procedures.[111] The building was later approved to become part of Stepping Stones, a school for children with disabilities and special needs.