Who We Are

Katherine has been at Lauderdale House since 1998. In that time she has covered everything from writing business plans and raising funds for our £2.3million refurbishment in 2016, to hoovering the galleries and wrapping presents for Santa’s Grotto. No one day is ever the same!

She began her working life as a solicitor for 8 years, and since her ‘escape’ she has worked for Panjandrum and Proteus theatre companies and set up Trilby Productions to produce small scale theatre and cabaret. Her passion for live performance and new work extends to being a trustee for Above the Stag Theatre and Pursued by a Bear Theatre Company. A former trustee of Musical Theatre Network, she was a key figure in its acceptance as an Arts Council regularly funded organisation.

To unwind, Katherine enjoys cooking and attends a weekly flying trapeze class.

Contact Katherine in relation to programming, business planning, fundraising and anything else the rest of our staff can’t cover… and especially if you’d like to make a donation towards the preservation of this unique historic House or towards our creative programme and outreach educational activities!

Liv manages the community programme at Lauderdale House. This includes our outreach work with secondary schools and youth centres, as well as school and community group visits to the House. 

Contact Liv if you’re from a school, youth or community group wishing to visit the House or organise a project.

Helen manages a wide range of private hire bookings such as parties, weddings, funerals as well as workshops and rehearsals at Lauderdale House.

Contact Helen for any queries and bookings regarding hiring the house for private functions. 

Isabelle leads the Operations team here at the House and manages our stewards and volunteers. She manages the running of activities taking place at Lauderdale House, as well as supporting in the maintenance of the building, to ensure everything at the House runs smoothly.

Contact Isabelle for any queries relating to event logistics, freelance stewarding or gallery volunteering. 

Peter Gallagher has been working at Lauderdale House since 1997. As Operations Deputy, he cares for and looks after the building. 

Peter lives on site at Lauderdale House and outside of work pursues his creative talents as a painter and filmmaker.

Contact Peter about house security and maintenance or about exhibition hanging. 

Marie's role at Lauderdale House is to promote the huge variety of events and activities taking place at the house, as well as keeping our website and the press up-to-date.

Contact Marie about press and advertising, or to buy tickets for events and classes.

Natasha maintains our social media, updates the website and supports general marketing while working to build and maintain relationships with local community groups.

Contact Natasha if you and your community group are interested in getting involved in the House.

Etta supports the Events and the Operations teams here at the House, from responding to initial enquiries to supervising the events on the day. She also manages the gallery volunteers here at the House.

Contact Etta for any queries relating to volunteering.

Anna currently works in Parliament, managing an MPs office. Previously, she worked at the University of Westminster for over 20 years in the Faculty of Architecture and Building. She has had a long association with Lauderdale House partly as a result of living nearby, bringing her children to Saturday shows and then joining the Board in 1998 to help with an early bid for refurbishment funding. She and her partner held a hundredth birthday party at the House, still fondly remembered by all who came. 

Nick Peacey has been a Trustee of the Lauderdale House Society since its formation in 1978. He recently stepped down as Chair of the Board, when he was awarded an MBE for services to the arts and to the community in North London.

Nick is now Vice-Chair and maintains his commitment to enhancing and promoting the House’s heritage education and accessibility.

Most of Nick's professional life has been spent in the field of special educational needs and disability (SEND), first with teams supporting young people who were excluded or at risk of exclusion and later, at the UCL Institute of Education, working with local and national government and international agencies on SEND development and teacher education programmes.
 

Denise Wilkinson’s impressive career included stints at IPSEA (Independent Special Educational Advice), Grandparents Plus, Hackney Social Services and Community Service Volunteers. She is now retired.

Denise has lived near Lauderdale House for 35 years and volunteers at events at the house. She came with her three children when they were young to Saturday morning children's shows which she now attends with her granddaughter. Her oldest daughter was married at Lauderdale in 2014.

Laure Duhot has had a career spanning over three decades in the private equity, banking and property fund management industry.

She is currently acting as consultant for a number of investors and fund managers clients, providing strategic advice and transaction support for their real estate investments across Europe, with a focus on urban regeneration and housing.

Laure has also acted as a NED on a number of company boards over the past 16 years, with current mandates including InLand Homes plc (house-building), the MedicX Fund (primary healthcare), MIC limited (hotel) and The Guinness Partnership (social housing).

Laure Duhot has been a Highgate resident for over two decades and she and her family have enjoyed many of the broad range of activities organised by Lauderdale house over the years and are regular customer in the café.

Paola is the CEO of Alzheimer’s Disease International. Prior to that, she was CEO of LIFE. Her previous senior positions include Cass Business School, Tate, British Library and IIED.

She is a Board Member of the World Dementia Council and a Trustee of The Postal Museum and Lauderdale House. Previously she was a Non-executive Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (NCDA), a Trustee of Shelter, the UK housing and homelessness charity and of MLA London.

She holds a degree cum laude in Classics from the University of Napoli Federico II, an MA in Field and Analytical Techniques in Archaeology and an MA in Library and Information Science both from University College London.

Paola had her wedding reception at Lauderdale House in 1995, shortly after she moved into the area and has loved it ever since!
 

Peter Barber OBE, FSA, FRHistS has known, loved and been intrigued by Lauderdale House since the early 1950s and has been a Board member since the 1970s.  He is a co-author of Lauderdale Revealed: A History of Lauderdale House, Highgate (1993) and continues to research the history of the House, producing articles on particular aspects that have been published in the Camden History Review (‘Gambling in Wartime:  the rise and fall of William Geere (1589/90 - 1652)’, Camden History Review 19 (1995), pp. 17-20) and The Hornsey Historical Bulletin (“We have all the young men at Hand.  We have only to call for them and they come”: Lauderdale House in the age of Jane Austen’, Hornsey Historical Society Bulletin  621 (2021), 21-29).

He was employed by the British Library as a curator for 40 years, finally  as Head of Maps and Views (2001-2015).  He has curated a series of major exhibitions, authored numerous scholarly articles and popular books and has been involved with and appeared in various television and radio series.  A former member of the Reviewing Committee for the Export of Works of Art, he now serves on the experts’ panel of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, on the council of the London Topographical Society and has been a freelance adviser to the National Trust on the maps in its collections .  President of the Hornsey Historical Society, and of the International Map Collectors’ Society, he is a Trustee of the Hereford Mappamundi.

Stanley studied architecture at the Welsh School, Cardiff, attaining a B.Sc(Hons) in Architecture and B.Arch with distinction. He qualified in 1977 becoming a corporate member of The Royal Institute of British Architects and is now a consultant for Haines Phillips Architects based in central London. He has been awarded numerous RIBA, Civic Trust and local awards and commendations for his work. Formerly an assessor for the Civic Trust, he has been a What House Awards assessor for fifteen years and more recently served on the Herts County Council design panel as an advisor.

More recently his practice has specialised in heritage projects working on a number of Grade I and Grade II* buildings. He was partner in charge of the architectural design and execution of the Lauderdale Transformed project and as a result of which has developed an intimate knowledge of Lauderdale House.  At completion of this work he was invited to join the Board of Trustees and continues to advise in respect of design matters and building work at the House.

Stanley lives nearby in Highbury with Susan and has a daughter Lucy. As well as historic buildings and architecture his interests include history, travel, and theatre. He and Susan are regular visitors to events at the House where Susan also volunteers.

Michael Burman M.A., B.Sc.(Hons.), FRGS has degrees in Geography and History and is now retired. He lectures at U3A sessions at Lauderdale House specifically concerning London. He has been a specialist teacher in Camden, Islington and Harrow for over 30 years the last 16 being as the Senior Deputy Head Teacher of one of London’s largest comprehensive schools. He was also an accredited member of OFSTED School Inspectorate. Michael is one of the longest serving elected Fellows of The Royal Geographical Society.

Following educational positions he has also been the first London Regional Manager for Diabetes UK and the Director of Administration for major national charities.

He is the former chairman of Masorti Synagogues UK and on the executive for Masorti Europe.

A former Foundation Governor and now a Trustee of Akiva School, Finchley he was also the Joint founder of Clore Shalom School, Shenley and first Chairman of Governors.

Michael has also served as one of a small team of Appropriate Adults supporting vulnerable people arrested by The Metropolitan Police in and around North London.

After qualifying and working as a Chartered Accountant, Tim spent 31 years with Shell in numerous commercial, finance and risk management roles in the UK, retiring in 2013. In 2015, he became a Trustee of the charity Arts for Dementia, first as Honorary Treasurer for four years and then five as Chair of the Board, overseeing a period of substantial change and growth.  

In his leisure time Tim paints, draws, listens to opera, and is learning Italian.  He runs to keep fit.  He and his wife Helen love to travel.  As a keen amateur artist, including attending classes at Lauderdale House over a number of years, and following his time with Arts for Dementia, he understands the healing value of engagement in all arts forms, skills once learned that can sustain people throughout their lives.”

Michael Eldred is Deputy Director of Development at the Royal Academy of Arts, responsible for the RA’s commercial and fundraising activities around corporate sponsorship, partnerships and events.  He has over 20 years’ experience in arts fundraising with a background in business development and account management.  He has previously held positions at Tate and is responsible for numerous high profile corporate relationships and fundraising initiatives in the sector.  He has a BA in Fine Art and the History of Art from the University of Reading.  

Michael’s admiration for Lauderdale House has grown through seeing the many events and activities that take place there, when assisting his wife’s monthly yoga workshops in the Long Gallery.

Naomi Naylor is an experienced arts marketing leader with over 20 years of success in promoting live music, theatre, and arts events across London. Since 2021, she has been Head of Marketing at Southbank Centre, leading a team to deliver high-impact campaigns for more than 5,000 events annually across all art forms.

Her career spans marketing roles at the Barbican, Bill Kenwright Ltd, Camden Lock, and Mean Fiddler Music Group plc. She has worked with The Jazz Café, The Forum, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, and Serious. Notable campaigns include Reading & Leeds Festival, Grace Jones, Paul Weller, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and All’s Well That Ends Well with Judi Dench and the RSC.

A passionate advocate for the role of the arts in bringing people together, Naomi is committed to supporting venues that foster community and cultural exchange. Having grown up in Camden and now living in East Finchley with her husband and three children, she is proud to champion spaces that have shaped her own life and continue to enrich her local community.