Criminal's country house home (7)
I believe the answer is:
villain
'criminal's' is the definition.
(both can mean a bad person)
'country house home' is the wordplay.
'country house' becomes 'villa' (villa is a kind of country house).
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'villa'+'in'='VILLAIN'
(Other definitions for villain that I've seen before include "Scoundrel" , "Criminal; stage baddy" , "Evil-doer" , "Wicked criminal" , "Criminal person" .)