THE DEANERY at Chartham is a rare breed among historic houses because it has been unspoilt by progress. There has been a house here since the early 14th century and, apart from a few excellent Georgian improvements, it ticks all the boxes for how a country pile should look.

Rosie Strickland, who has lived at this picturesque spot in the Stour Valley in Kent for 22 years with her husband Colin, a property developer, admits that they were lucky to find a grand house in such excellent condition. “In the Seventies and Eighties people really got carried away with some dreadful DIY projects, ripping out fireplaces and so on, but fortunately that hadn’t happened here. All we had to do was to repair the roof.”

As a result, the medieval Great Hall at The Deanery still has its splendid Jacobean fireplace and Venetian windows, the snug has lovely pickled pine panelling and there’s even a little set of rooms reminiscent of Upstairs Downstairs — a large larder, a scullery and a cool pantry with a very old, but perfectly serviceable, butler’s sink.

The house, which was once the summer residence of the Dean of Canterbury, is so symmetrical from the front that you feel as if you could quite easily slice it down the middle. The handsome white-pillared portico is flanked by pleasing arch-topped windows and each of the two gables has three matching windows with an oriel at the top of each.

Open the front door and you are instantly struck by the dimensions of the Great Hall, which remains two storeys high with a marvellous staircase that branches off to right and left into two galleried landings. The Stricklands have used the Great Hall regularly for parties, and for Colin’s 50th birthday managed to seat 130 people comfortably. In one corner is an impressive grand piano, which is occasionally played by their friend, Jools Holland, who found it to fit the room.

The kitchen is also large, 26ft x 16ft (8m by 5m), with a superb dresser that was tailor-made to fit the end wall (it will stay with the property). This room is home to Rosie’s eclectic collection of blue-and-white china, stuffed birds and works of art (she is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art).

Off the Great Hall is a billiard room, which would make a nice dining room, and at the back of the house is a large and pleasant drawing room with handsome Georgian fanlight windows and a stuffed snake in a corner that Rosie’s cleaner refuses to go near. “I think he’s lovely,” says Rosie. “He reminds me of the snake in the Garden of Eden.”

Upstairs is a large master suite, with its own bathroom and four further bedrooms, all of which are large. On this floor, too, is Rosie’s art studio, the palette bright with paints, with lovely views over the garden. This room, naturally, is light and bright and, if you’re not a painter, could easily take a double bed. Rosie is particularly proud of her Birth of Venus bathroom, the walls covered with various versions of this iconic image, including a cartoon of Tony Blair emerging from his shell.

Outside, the three acres of walled gardens are a delight — quintessentially English, with beds of lavender, an exuberant wistaria across the back of the house, rambling roses and a pretty little canal that is fed from the river. Because the garden is walled, the family’s adorable dogs, Weasel and Sidney, can play safely on the lawn while their owners relax.

There used to be two massive cedar trees here as well, but they went in the great storm of October 1987. “The noise of the storm was unbelievable,” says Rosie. “My husband pulled the quilt over his head and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening, but I looked out of the window and saw those beautiful trees with their roots sticking up in the air. I was heartbroken, because I knew we could repair the house but we couldn’t replace those trees.”

In one corner of the garden is a semi-circular conservatory, one of Rosie’s favourite spots. “I come here to listen to the radio, to contemplate and to have a fag. It’s my little domain and I love it.”

The Stricklands are downsizing to a warehouse conversion in nearby Faversham, so that they can spend more time at their château in Languedoc. Rosie says: “It’s been a truly wonderful place to live. What I shall miss most is the house at Christmas and the entertaining. We decorate the hall with candles and a huge tree, and our guests sit there looking around. It’s a great treat.”

The Deanery is for sale through Calcutt MacLean Standen for £1.75 million. Call 01233 812060

FACTFILE

WHAT YOU GET: Grade II listed country house with great hall, two sitting rooms, billiard room, library, kitchen, five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Walled garden and grounds, coach house and conservatory
WHERE IT IS: Three miles from Canterbury, eight miles from Faversham (trains from Faversham take about 1hr 20min to London Victoria). SCHOOLS: The King’s School, Canterbury; Ashford School; Perry Court Steiner School, Chartham.
WHERE TO EAT: Read’s in Faversham; Eastwell Manor.

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