An inspiring and recently renovated period town house in London's Old Chelsea for sale at £8.95 million

(Image credit: Russell Simpson)

published 17 October 2021

Inspiration beckons at white-stuccoed 21, Old Church Street, which, as its Blue Plaque attests, was once home to the actress Judy Campbell, famously muse to Noël Coward, mother of Jane Birkin and grandmother of Charlotte Gainsbourg.

The beautifully presented family home is currently on the market via Russell Simpson for £8.95 million.

Furthermore, this much-restored townhouse, once a pub, dates back to the 18th century, making it reputedly the oldest property on the oldest street in Chelsea (it was mentioned, as Church Lane, in 1566).

With five bedrooms, it has been boldly updated, with dark-oak floors, a glazed atrium, sumptuous cinema room and Carrera-marble kitchen island designed by Day True London with integrated Gaggenau appliances.

The well-sized west-facing stepped garden has a raised, lawned courtyard with a water feature and outdoor dining area, overlooked by a balcony.

21 Old Church Street is currently on the market via Russell Simpson for £8.95 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Old Chelsea: What you need to know

Location: The property is just set back from the Chelsea Embankment in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The nearest underground stations are South Kensington Underground (District, Piccadilly and Circle lines), Imperial Wharf overground services and Gloucester Road Underground (District, Piccadilly and Circle Lines).

Atmosphere: The popular and affluent neighbourhood has been home — and indeed still is home to a wide number of poets, painters and artists. The area is now known for its world-class shopping, and takes centre stage as the capitals most stylish shopping district.

Things to do: Art lovers can head to the Saatchi gallery and Gagliardi Gallery amongst others, whilst shoppers will enjoy the King's Road and Harrods. Theatre and music lovers head to Cadogan Hall (home of the Philharmonic Orchestra) and The Royal Theatre. There are also countless restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs plus a weekly food market in the Duke of York Square. Battersea Park can also be reached to the south of Chelsea Embankment.

Schools: Park Walk Primary School is rated 'good' by Ofsted, whilst Kingland Pre-Prep, The Hampshire School Chelsea and Cameron Vale School are all located within walking distance.

See more property for sale in the area.

Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.

Country houses for sale

Old Chelsea: What you need to know