Richard Douglas

Spear’s Review

Richard Douglas, founding director of London House, has worked in the film industry as a screenwriter and actor. In 2001 he played the part of an estate agent, which eventually led to him taking up the role off screen. ‘After that, I realised my true calling was estate agency,’ he tells Spear’s.

Douglas met business partner Alex Bourne at drama school more than 20 years ago. Both had an easygoing attitude, a deep love for London and a dislike for the corporate style of real estate agency. Having worked together at Hamptons International, they joined forces to establish a boutique property consultancy called Hanover Residential. The pair began to build up a book of UHNW clients, the first one being ‘a Saudi prince who felt compelled to buy a £17 million Knightsbridge property’ from the duo. 

Gary Hersham of Beauchamp Estates bought over half of that business, but Douglas and Bourne eventually broke off in 2021 to form London House, with a view to offering clients the intimate service of a boutique agency.