Elegant former rectory where you can take a dip while taking in the South Downs
Church House is an elegant Victorian country house.


Situated behind St Peter’s Church on Chailey’s pretty village green, Church House occupies a glorious countryside location on the edge of the South Downs.
Dating from the Victorian era, this five-bedroom former rectory, currently on the market for £3 million through Savills, offers light, spacious accommodation perfect for modern family life. The property has been sympathetically extended and improved by the current owners, with great care taken to preserve the harmony of the original architecture.
The accommodation comprises a dual aspect drawing room, which has a lovely working stone fireplace and French doors to the garden; a dining room with a working fireplace and two bay windows with views across the gardens; a Mark Wilkinson fully-fitted kitchen; a conservatory with French doors to the terrace; a useful utility room; and a rear hall with access to the enclosed courtyard, leading to the family room.
On the first floor, the master bedroom has two dressing rooms and an en suite shower room with underfloor heating; plus four further bedrooms (one en suite) and family bathroom.
To the rear of the house there are also two terraces, one with space for table and chairs and one with a firepit - perfect for summer entertaining. The idyllic swimming pool, which sits just south of the conservatory, affords long, peaceful views across the gardens - which are mostly laid to lawn - and to the farmland beyond.
Church House also boasts excellent secondary accommodation - The Barn, built in 2007, comprises a vaulted open plan kitchen/living room with wood burning stove, a cloakroom, two adjoining bedrooms and a shower room.
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Agnes has worked for Country Life in various guises — across print, digital and specialist editorial projects — before finally finding her spiritual home on the Features Desk. A graduate of Central St. Martins College of Art & Design she has worked on luxury titles including GQ and Wallpaper* and has written for Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Horse & Hound, Esquire and The Independent on Sunday. She is currently writing a book about dogs, due to be published by Rizzoli New York in September 2025.
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