Image from NBS SourceIn London, the Agency operated using the cover identity of AnaCord Electronics, located at 100 Pall Mall, Fourth Floor, St. James’s, Westminster, London SW1. AnaCord Electronics specialized in the import and export of electrical and electronic components.
This building, which is near London’s well-known Athenaeum Club, was constructed in the 1950s and has been renovated several times. Historic England has designated it as Grade II listed due to its history and architectural interest. It is within walking distance of St. James’s Square and the Piccadilly Circus station.
Image from LoopNetAs befits a small international import/export firm, the AnaCord Electronics offices on the fourth floor are small, though not mean. The premises contain a lobby/reception area, a break area with a kitchenette, and three offices, one of which has been repurposed as a small conference room. There are shared restrooms in the building’s internal hallway.
This location, officially (but securely) known as the Agency London Bureau, is headed by a Bureau Director who is also a senior field agent. Two or three other field agents are also usually assigned, but there is no need for a full-time support staff. When administrative support is needed, the Agency temporarily assigns an agent to the role, requests assistance from the Embassy, or in cases where security compartmentalization can be maintained, hires a short-term worker from a local London staffing agency.
This location, which is near the intersection of 30th and Dumbarton Streets in Georgetown, has the exterior appearance of a townhouse (and it was originally built as such in 1900). There is street parking in front but the majority of parking is in an underground garage nearby; the Agency also has an arrangement with a nearby street lot for overflow or additional parking. There is a loading dock in back, accessed from an alley off Dumbarton.
The Agency has been at this location since it was first established in 1954. In 1960, the organization was downsized and most of its operations were moved into a sprawling complex built in, and expanded from, the townhouse’s original basement. This underground complex included computer rooms, the Field Section’s “bull pen” area, several offices, interrogation rooms, a small medical clinic and dispensary, equipment supply/storage areas, and similar functions.
From a real estate listingAfter that move, the townhouse’s visible, upper floors only contained an entrance hall, a single conference room, the actual filming unit, offices primarily used for storage, and an elevator, disguised as a coat closet, leading down into the basement complex.
In the 1980s, the expanding nature of the Agency’s operations necessitated re-opening some of the upstairs offices, even though that part of the building was somewhat less secure. Around 1984, the Q-Bureau was one of the first operations relocated, into a second-floor office, with access to a secured storage vault, marked “Film Library.” It was originally manned by Larry Crawford, but in 1985, the Q-Bureau was taken over by Lee Stetson. Amanda King (later Amanda Stetson) was also assigned a desk in the Q-Bureau when she was promoted to Agent status in 1986.
The Q-Bureau was taken over by Francine Desmond and Nancy Zusterakos upon the Stetsons’ departure for London.
Notes:
- There are any number of websites with screenshots and images of the Agency including the bull pen, Billy’s office, the Q-Bureau, the Georgetown Foyer, and other locations.
- The actual 1322 30th Street Northwest in Washington is a private residence. It last sold for $1,375,000 in November 2016.
- The Agency’s interiors were primarily custom-built film sets at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California. However, some early episodes shot interiors at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles.
US Embassy Exterior, 1960-2018 (click to enlarge). Image by Bill Boaden.
The United States Embassy, London, was first established in 1785 and has been located in several locations during its history. On September 24, 1960, it officially moved to a chancery building located at 24 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London.
Designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen, the structure had over 600 rooms on nine floors, providing 225,000 square feet of working space for about 750 employees, less than half of whom were American. Only five or six of the floors, including a “penthouse” set back from the facade, were above ground level to conform in height with the surrounding buildings in Grosvenor Square. The remaining floors were below ground.
In the late 1980s, the embassy was served by the Bond Street station, located about a five- to seven-minute walk away.
For security reasons, specific interior room numbers and exact floor assignments are not published in public architectural or historical building records. In the Restless Hearts series, I have placed the main operations of the Regional Security Office on the fourth floor (UK: third storey). I have placed the visa application offices on the first floor (UK: ground floor), with most administrative operations occurring on the first and second basement levels. The Ambassador’s ceremonial office is also on the first floor/ground floor, but the Ambassador’s working office is one floor up.
Lee’s First Office (click to enlarge)
Image generated by ChatGPTLee Stetson was assigned as the first intelligence liaison officer (a fictional position) in July 1988. Initially, due to limited room, his office was a converted janitorial closet on the fourth floor of the building, down the hallway from the RSO’s office. Although the office was private and secure, its original use was always evident in its design.
Embassy Admin Pool (click to enlarge)
Image generated by ChatGPTDuring the same period, Amanda Stetson had a part-time cover position as a clerk processing visa applications. She was assigned a desk on the first basement level. This level also contained her supervisor’s office, a loading dock, and a small research room. While the area was kept in good condition, it was never as luxurious as the office areas above ground — and it was never meant to be.
The Embassy officially opened its new location at 33 Nine Elms Lane on January 16, 2018. The former location, which now has the address of 30 Grosvenor Square, is the Chancery Rosewood, a luxury hotel.
Sources:
4247 Maplewood Drive (click to enlarge)
Image from Chance EncountersDuring the canonical series, Amanda King lived at a house with the established address of 4247 Maplewood Drive, Arlington VA 22201.
The house, which she and her previous husband Joe King had purchased in the 1970s, was a Cape Cod-influenced Colonial house located in a suburban neighborhood. It also had a detached two-car garage with an attic over, and a back patio with a gazebo.
4247 Maplewood – Garage (click to enlarge). Image from Chance EncountersJoe and Amanda had selected the house due to its proximity to Washington, DC; its safe neighborhood and excellent school district; and the space it offered for their family.
When their marriage ended in 1982, Amanda retained ownership of the house, although she was required to take out a mortgage in order to buy out Joe’s portion of it. Fortunately, her mother Dotty West moved in a few months later, after selling her own house and contributing some of that sale’s proceeds toward Amanda’s mortgage. While this helped, Amanda still continued to have a mortgage payment obligation, which was a significant reason she was seeking paid work by late 1983.
4247 Maplewood – First Floor (click to enlarge). Image by April McGowanThe house’s floor plan was not intuitive, but it was definitely workable. The first floor featured formal living and dining rooms, a family room, and a large kitchen with an attached breakfast nook. While it was necessary to go up and down a partial flight of stairs between the front door and the family room, visitors could access the formal areas without any barriers. There was also, presumably, a half-bath under the full stairs, just off the foyer.
4247 Maplewood – Second Floor (click to enlarge). Image by April McGowanUpstairs, the house originally featured two bedrooms, a convertible den, a hall bath, and a master bedroom with an additional ensuite bath. Sometime after their purchase, Joe and Amanda elected to split one of the bedrooms into two smaller ones so that each of their sons could have a private bedroom. The convertible den became Dotty’s bedroom when she moved in.
While Lee Stetson never officially lived in this house, Amanda gave him a set of keys after their February 1987 marriage. They had planned for Lee to move in as soon as the King boys had adjusted to the change in their family circumstances. Unfortunately, the devastating car accident of October 1, 1987 — which claimed both Phillip’s and Dotty’s lives — meant this never actually happened.
After realizing that she and Jamie could no longer bear to live in the house they’d shared with Dotty and Phillip, Lee and Amanda agreed they would instead move into a short-term, rental townhouse in Arlington while Amanda prepped and sold the house. They would then purchase a house together. Lee and Amanda formally moved in together at the townhouse in December 1987, and Amanda sold the house in February or March 1988.
Due to their reassignment to London in the summer of 1988, Lee and Amanda put their purchase plans on hold and banked the proceeds from the sale against a future house purchase, to be made when they returned to the United States.
Notes:
- The exterior of Amanda’s house is actually located at 4247 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California 91505. It is a private residence that has been used in several different television and movie productions besides Scarecrow and Mrs. King. The Burbank residence has a substantially different floor plan than the one depicted in this entry.
- There are many excellent write-ups and photographs of Amanda’s house. Some examples:
- 4247 Maplewood Drive at SMK-Land
- 4247 Warner Boulevard at Historic Film Locations (on Facebook)
- A Walk Through (and Around) 4247 Maplewood Drive at IWSOD’s web site (with a slightly different floor plan)
- The floor plan featured in this entry was originally drawn by April McGowan and appeared at The Teddy Chronicles, which is now offline. The owner of this site downloaded the images when the closure of Angelfire.com was announced.
From June 1988 through June 1993, Lee and Amanda rent an upper maisonette at 22D Carrowby Terrace, Pimlico, London SW1. They’re located very close to the Pimlico/Westminster border and can walk to London Victoria Station.
(click to enlarge)
22 Carrowby Terrace is a substantial Victorian townhouse converted into separate residences during the 1960s. At the time of its first conversion, it was separated into four flats (22A through 22D), one per floor. During the early to mid-1980s, the owner of 22D purchased 22C and remodeled the two flats into a combined, two-floor unit. Since the owner’s original address was 22D, that became the surviving address for the combined unit.
The two remodels mean that their maisonette has what’s commonly referred to as “character.” However, it’s in very good condition and the location is extremely desirable. As such, their initial monthly rent was £1,050 per month. This felt unbelievably high to Amanda, but the figure fell comfortably within their household budget thanks to their combined salaries.
The terrace-level (basement) unit was a flat occupied by a young married couple, Rhys and Clare Davenport. The Austrian Embassy owned the ground floor (first floor) flat and used it as temporary housing for visiting diplomatic staff. As such, the building was generally kept somewhat more secure than normal, which Lee and Amanda found attractive.
(click to enlarge)While both the initial conversion and the subsequent remodel were carried out with some thought, the nature of the unit meant that the floor plan was still somewhat awkward in places. The first floor contained a living/sitting room, an efficiency-style kitchen, a water closet and a room that was initially presented as a dining room or third bedroom.
The second floor had two bedrooms, both with built-in wardrobes, and a third room that was presented as a bunk room or utility/auxiliary room (it had no built-in wardrobe). It had originally been the upper level’s own efficiency-style kitchen. This floor also contained a full bath. Lee and Amanda used the larger bedroom while Jamie used the smaller one.
(click to enlarge)The interior styling was solid, but gloriously generic in that way only a converted Victorian row house can be. While Amanda initially despaired at being able to make it as homey and welcoming as she liked, their landlord allowed them considerable latitude in décor. It never could be — and never was — particularly spacious, but with time and effort it became warm and cozy.
Since the dedicated dining room area was not particularly well-placed for that usage, and since the upstairs spare room was too small, Lee and Amanda elected to use the dining room as their combined shared (and secured) office. This required them to use part of the sitting/living room for dining. They chose to use a smaller table than the ones they’d used before; it seated three comfortably enough, but was full at four and crowded at five.
(click to enlarge)Amanda had not seen or been asked to use such a small kitchen since she’d been in college, and ordinarily would not have been willing to accept such a small kitchen in her full-time residence. However, by the time she and Lee viewed 22D Carrowby, she had already seen several other London kitchens and realized that this one was well-equipped and well laid out. It contained an electric cooking hob, an electric oven, a ventless washer-dryer combo, a refrigerator/freezer and the boiler (hot water heater).
Due to being situated on an interior wall, it had no windows. However, strategic décor choices and use of a lot of light made it pleasant as well as functional. It was always, however, strictly a one-person kitchen.
(click to enlarge)Because this maisonette was on the upper floors of the building, the rooms that did have windows got good light; and again, since the conversion and remodel were done thoughtfully, rooms without windows had sufficient lighting fixtures available. Floor and wall surfaces were definitely 1980s-style in nature, but in good condition.
The home was heated by wall radiators. Like most homes in London, there was no air conditioning — but given London’s usual weather, the strategic use of windows (which were situated to allow for cross-breezes) and fans was sufficient for all but the very hottest of days.
22D Carrowby Terrace wasn’t the most luxurious of homes, but it was a well-located, well-maintained, solidly built and functional example of London city architecture for its time. After Lee and Amanda vacated it to move back home to the United States, they always remembered it with a smile. That smile might occasionally have been sardonic, but it was never unwarranted.
Furnished Pictures
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Reception/Sitting Room (click to enlarge) |
Kitchen (click to enlarge) |
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Lee’s and Amanda’s Office (click to enlarge) |
Lee’s and Amanda’s Bedroom (click to enlarge) |
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Upper Hallway (click to enlarge) |
Jamie’s Bedroom (click to enlarge) |
Notes:
- While Pimlico, Westminster, and Victoria Station are real, Carrowby Terrace is fictional. The street geography in the Restless Hearts series is deliberately left a bit unclear to account for this. Descriptions of their neighborhood and local surroundings are based on pictures and maps of the general area.
- The £1,050 monthly rent is a 1988 price. In 2026, a similar unit (in terms of size and location) would rent for approximately £5,000 per month.
- Images and floor plan were generated by ChatGPT and are meant to be representative, but may contain minor architectural, formatting, perspective, or proportional errors.