Tudor Mansion

Wikipedia tells us that the house is called Tudor Mansion, but "named Tudor Close, Tudor Hall, Boddy Manor or Boddy Mansion in some editions".

According to this article in the Birmingham Post, celebrating the game's 60th anniversary in 2009, the original name of the house was Tudor Close. I don't know where all those other names come from or when they came in, but I can't help wondering whether Tudor Mansion is what the Americans call it.

This article on a blog site called Artists Open Houses claims that the inspiration for the house was the Tudor Close Hotel in Rottingdean, Sussex (now a suburb of Brighton). This article was written by one Amanda Davidson, who appears to be a current resident of Tudor Close in Rottingdean. She claims that Cluedo was based on a series of murder mystery games that "travelling entertainers" Anthony and Elva Pratt hosted at the Tudor House Hotel as early as the 1920s.

The Birmingham Post article (see above) has quotations from Anthony Pratt, whom it credits as the inventor of Cluedo, dating from a 1990 interview. It also has contemporary (i.e. 2009) quotes from his daughter Marcia Davies. But it doesn't mention Rottingdean or the murder mystery games – or Anthony Pratt being a travelling entertainer. It refers to him as "a clerk from Kings Heath, Birmingham".

Something else that I can't help wondering is whether Ms. Davidson made up the Rottingdean connection to create an air of authenticity for her artwork. But if she did, we'd have to wonder where Mr. Pratt did get the inspiration for the name Tudor Close.