In the 1920s, to the west of this quarry, were built the first council houses in Northfleet. Earlier Thomas Sturge purchased the land on which the estate was built when it came up for sale in 1844. It then included the nearly completed new house that became known as Northfleet House. Thomas Sturge lived there with his sister, Esther, both of whom remained single, until his death in 1866. The house was noted for a magnificent pair of entrance gates, made from whaling harpoons, which stood opposite the present Lawn Road School. Alfred Tolhurst, also a cement manufacturer, who gifted the site of the Roman Catholic Church on The Hill, Northfleet, later occupied Northfleet House for 25 years, until his wife died in 1911.
In 1920, Northfleet House was converted into offices for the Northfleet Urban District Council. The building was extended in 1958. After local government reorganization in 1974, Gravesham Borough Council’s technical department was located there for some years before the building was sold and converted into a home for the elderly.