in 1959 it was brought to the attention of the american evangelist herbert w. armstrong, who had arrived in england looking for a larger office for the british branch of his radio church of god. he bought the house and land as the site for his second ambassador college campus. by the time of the purchase the guest house had already been sold separately to another buyer, who used the property as a private home like an island within the campus. armstrong wrote in chapter 72 of his autobiography that trans world airlines (twa) had been considering hanstead house as a school for stewardesses. "yet this mansion, with these outstanding gardens, the aviary, greenhouses, cedars of lebanon, all finally came to us for £8,000 ($22,800) - the not uncommon price of a five- or six-room cottage on a forty- or fifty-foot lot in america, - and that on terms that gave us several years to pay."