Fairlea Grange was built by William, the father of Ethel Lina White, in the 1880s. It was designed in a Mock Tudor style with carved fireplaces, stone archways and stained glass windows. The layout of the staircase featured in the novel The Wheel Spins and was also featured in later movie adaptations of The Lady Vanishes.

Ethel Lina White was seen as a contemporary of fellow crime writer Agatha Christie and when it came to casting the lead role for Hitchcock’s original version of The Lady Vanishes, Margaret Lockwood said she was inspired by the heroines of White’s novels.