After Geldart's death in 1912, the house was vacant for two years. In July 1914, at the start of the First World War, it was requisitioned by the War Office for use an officers' mess for the 1st Highland Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, who were billeted locally. In December 1914, it was re-assigned as a military hospital managed by a Voluntary Aid Detachment. After the war it was decommissioned and became the main offices of Huntingdonshire County Council, with all the key officers including the county surveyor, county accountant and county medical officer all based there. It also served as the main offices of Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council from April 1965 until that county was absorbed by Cambridgeshire County Council in 1974.
