Manufactured by Douglas House Ltd. of 43-45a Mitcham Lane in Streatham, London and advertised for a short time during late 1948 and early 1949, the House lathe was not the first to have its headstock formed by using an electric motor, nor the last. From contemporary illustrations, it appears that House almost certainly used the £3 : 7s : 6d motor and stand unit advertised by D.R.Welch of Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London S.W.15 as the basis of the machine - the necessary bed being constructed from 18" of ground steel bar socketed into the cast aluminum box underneath the motor.
With a centre height of just 2.5" and a capacity between centres of 14" the capacity of the lathe was limited, and its usefulness not enhanced by the tailstock the spindle of which (with a hardened point) lacked screw feed and had, instead, to be pushed in and out by hand.
Supplied with the lathe was a 1/4" chuck (probably of the Jacobs drill type), an adjustable T-rest,  a 4" faceplate and a 3" grindstone with the necessary spindle nose adapter. Priced at £8 : 4s ; 0d including postage, it was, like so many of its kind (with its limited capacity and too simple design),  quickly forgotten.