When Chelsea was grazing and pasture, not gazing and posture, this house was a Georgian dairy. Now it's a townhouse on SW3's swishest street

Chelsea's Old Church Street is known for three things: the neighbourhood’s famous Arts Club, Manolo Blahnik’s London store and the Old Rectory, once named one of the city’s most valuable private residences, in the hands of Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen since 2001. It is reportedly on the market, its owner arranging discreet viewings since July after announcing that Britain had ‘gone to Hell’ and joining what some have deemed a billionaire exodus.

A more demure proprietor might find more to appreciate 10 doors down at No 46, known as The Old Dairy after Wright’s Dairy, for which it served as both a shop and headquarters back in the day.

It's currently for sale via Knight Frank at £3.75 million.

The Dairy was founded in 1796, when Chelsea was still a collection of pastures: field upon field of cows encircled the building at the time. Its present exterior retains reminders of this heritage, including one of the original model cow heads positioned between the sash windows on the second floor.

Standing outside, you can still see the tiled illustrations from the dairy-shop era on the ground-floor façade. The property later served as a tobacconist and, after that, a cake shop.

A three-bedroom, three-bathroom, semi-detached house in the Georgian style, the property totals 2,187sq ft and comes with a balcony and newly fitted kitchen. Yet it derives most of its value from its location.

Besides Fredriksen and Charles Kingsley, the Victorian author who owned the Old Rectory long before the billionaire did, many more famous faces have called Old Church Street home. Steve Clark, guitarist for Def Leppard, lived and died at No 44; Judy Campbell, actress and playwright, lived for 30 years at No 21, with the blue plaque to show for it. At the upper, busier end abutting the Fulham Road is Sloane House, which has been in the hands of Petra Ecclestone since 2010.

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Old Church Street stretches from the Thames to the Fulham Road and traverses arguably the most covetable stretch of the King’s Road. It is home to a range of historic properties, the characters of which have been preserved through strict architectural conservation: edifices have names such as Rectory Chambers and Petyt Hall.

At the foot of it is Chelsea Old Church, where one of the chapels owes its life to Sir Thomas More. The Pig’s Ear, one of SW3’s best pubs, which has itself undergone extensive refurbishment in the past decade, is located directly opposite the house. Your next pint could be a stone’s throw away.

The Old Dairy is for sale at £3.75 million via Knight Frank — see more details.