They're certainly not for everyone. Some people feel a little disconcerted by high ceilings, unusual windows and the quirkiness of any fixtures and fittings left over from the building's former life.
Others, however, will scratch their heads in wonder at the thought that not everybody would love the places precisely because of all the above. They'll gleefully convert baptismal fonts into bathroom sinks, build mezzanine floors to allow for bedrooms beneath the galleried ceilings and happily cut a letterbox into the four-inch thick oak doors.
This beautiful Cotswolds church — on sale for £495,000 via Savills — is a case in point:
The main living areas keeps an incredible sense of space, while an impressive master suite is tucked in to the space above and includes a dressing room and a very well appointed bathroom tucked into the beautiful old roof.
Outside, the building is incredibly pretty — as is the setting in the Cotswolds AONB near Stroud.
The Old Chapel is for sale at £495,000 via Savills — see more pictures and details.
Equally impressive is this church in Woodlesford, a West Yorkshire village close to the A1(M) and M62 near Leeds — it's for sale via Fine & Country at £800,00.
While the Cotswolds church makes for a fairly small house, this is a huge family home with over 5,000sq ft of space, including four bedrooms and a games room.
The way the living space has been designed to make the most is just wonderful — not least in the dining room:
Most eye-catching of all, however, is the way that wooden staircases have been incorporated into the original design of the church — they've been kept wonderfully in keeping, and make a real feature of the stained glass.
All Saints House is for sale through Fine & Country at £650,000 — see more details and pictures.
A similar approach has been used at this truly sensational home in Tiverton, Devon, which is on the market at £650,000 via Stags.
Visitors to the church would scarcely believe what lies beyond the Gothic arch doorway as they enter via the old churchyard:
The blend of old and new, traditional and modern is bold and glorious. A bright green range cooker sits beneath a modern extractor and dome lightshades while the light streams in through the huge stained glass windows to one side:
The bedrooms are build into the roof space, but cleverly boxed off to offer privacy and noise protection — something that can be a problem for some buyers, particularly those with children who need to get to sleep before the adults hit the sack. It's real lesson in making a lovely old building into a genuinely effective modern home.
Old Church, Cove, Tiverton is for sale at £650,00 via Stags — see more pictures and details.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
Credit: H Tiddy
12 stunning character properties for sale at under £400,000
Thatched homes in Cornwall and West Sussex are among the many highlights of these gorgeous character cottages for sale.
-
Country Life 1 October 2025Country Life 1 October 2025 helps you start an art collection, tastes the best beef in Britain and goes hellraising in West Wycombe.
-
Everything you could ever want to know about growing, eating and cooking plumsMirabelles, gages, plums, damsons — the best ones to buy, the ones to avoid, and how to use them. Charles Quest-Ritson has you covered.
-
A Georgian country house that's immaculate, unlisted and surrounded by 21 unspoilt acres of SomersetFinding a grand, 220-year-old home that's unlisted in a wonderful location is cause for celebration. Penny Churchill looks at Werescote, on the Devon-Somerset border.
-
A country house escape where 'legend has it that Shakespeare came to stay' while writing The TempestStanden House on the Isle of Wight isn't just a grand country home — it's a grand country home that has a claim to have hosted the most famous playwright in history. Could it really be true?
-
A vicarage designed by one of Queen Victoria's favourite architects, exquisitely refurbished to keep every ounce of original character — and even a few cracks and crumblesJust down the road from Soho Farmhouse, and under 20 miles from central Oxford, this home designed by George Gilbert Scott is a joy.
-
The blissful waterside home for sale that hosted the iconic 'Surrealists in Cornwall' party, where Man Ray, Lee Miller and Henry Moore let down their hairThe wonderful Lambe Creek House was the setting for a bohemian gathering of some of the most creative minds of the 1920s and 1930s. Today, it's up for sale; Penny Churchill tells is story.
-
'You simply would not move unless you had to': All the rumours about what The Budget could do to the property market in Britain — and what they'd mean for buyers and sellersMonths of speculation about a shake-up for property taxes has been taking its toll on the housing market in Britain. Annabel Dixon outlines the proposals which have been doing the rounds, and asks experts for their analysis.
-
A spectacular green oasis that offers a slice of country life in the very heart of one of the busiest places in LondonAmong the roads, rail and conference centres of Earls Court, there's a charming terrace where you can find homes that offer wonderful surprises — and they don't get much more wonderful than this one.
-
A breathtaking home created by a genius architect on one of the most beautiful headlands in Cornwall, on the market for the first time in almost 40 yearsIn 1932, a visionary architect bought a magnificently wild Cornish headland, and built some of the most beautiful homes in the West Country on it. One of them — The Gate House at Chapel Point, near Mevagissey — is on sale for the first time since it appeared in Country Life in 1987. Penny Churchill reports.
-
A classic English country house, with charm, croquet lawn and a castle next door, on the market for the first time in almost 60 yearsThe Old Rectory in Beverston — one of the Cotswolds' most historic villages — is on the market. Penny Churchill tells its tale.
