Can Buying a Rectory Answer Your Home-Buying Prayers?

What is the best house to buy in a village if you plan to move to the countryside? The mansion maybe? Forget it unless you’re worth a small fortune.

A farm? It will be miles from civilization and probably have too much land.

A house with chocolate boxes? Tends to be dark and need constant maintenance.

When writer and film director Monty Whitebloom was faced with this dilemma twenty years ago, he came up with his answer: buy the village chaplaincy.

“We had been looking at houses in north Cornwall for three years and nothing was right, but then we found the vicarage,” says Monty, 57, who is selling his Cornish rectory in Tregardock, near Wadebridge, for £2.25 million (johnbrayestates .co.UK).

‘We were living in London’s Soho at the time, which wasn’t great for our young children. I wanted them to get air into their lungs and experience nature outdoors.

‘I’m social too and this was an ideal place to host friends in the village.’

Dating back to 1760, Monty’s Vicarage has the look of a Poldark movie set. The five-bedroom house is sheltered by beech and alder trees, and the five-acre garden features an ancient gnarled oak tree that provides shade for summer tea.

There are good reasons why parsonages like Monty’s are so sought after. Built by the Church as symbols of wealth and prestige, they range architecturally from Queen Anne to Georgian and Victorian Gothic. Some are architectural gems and invariably structurally robust.

Pastories are always close to the center of the village, usually a stone’s throw from the church. Internally, they are likely to have high ceilings, large windows and several reception areas.

These characteristics also make the presbytery the ideal ‘forever’ home. It is big enough for a large family, with office space. Multi-generational living is a possibility and the gardens are usually substantial but manageable.

Pastories are also good value. According to research from Jackson-Stops, the average sale price for one in 2022 will be £371 per square foot. That equates to £382 per square meter for a village cottage with chocolate boxes.

No wonder brokers’ tomtoms start beating as soon as one hits the market. ‘We recently had a beautiful old vicarage for sale in East Moyle, Wiltshire,’ says Annabel Blackett of Strutt & Parker. “We quickly had fifty viewers and sold it for the asking price.”

If you’re lucky enough to find a parsonage you can afford, you’ll get more house for your money. Demesne Hall, outside the Dales market town of Wolsingham, is an imposing 1848 vicarage, with seven bedrooms and an annexe.

‘It’s in the middle of good walking country,’ says Louise Olds of Fine & Country, who is selling the house for £1.5 million. “It has private gardens and could be a wonderful boutique hotel.”

There are few parsonages in chapel-rich West Wales. ‘Manses are their equivalent,’ says Carol Peett of West Wales Property Finders. ‘These are architecturally less extravagant and more austere. But they are good, solid buildings that are perfectly suited for single-family homes.’

Camrose is a four-bedroom former town house near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, for sale from Savills (savills.com) for £495,000.

However, not everyone is fond of these ecclesiastical piles. “Buyers come chasing the old vicarage dream,” says James Law of Stacks Property Search. “They tend to overlook the downsides.

“They’re often on the list, which creates problems if you want to make home improvements. They have large single-pane windows that are a pain to keep clean, and heating the huge rooms can be expensive.”

None of these drawbacks cut much ice at Monty Whitebloom. “I’m only selling because our three kids are grown,” he says.

‘Our vicarage is sheltered from the fierce north Cornwall winter storms, yet full of space and light. I love it.’