Winston Churchill bought Chartwell as his family home in 1922; 104 years later, visitors can still explore about 80 acres of grounds

In September 1922, Winston Churchill acquired Chartwell, a red-brick farmhouse on about 80 acres (often cited as 82) in the Kent Weald, some 30 miles south of London. Mainly Museums notes that Churchill's purchase came at a personal and professional low point: the year before, in August 1921, his family had mourned the death of his two-year-old daughter, Marigold, and within weeks of completing the sale he would lose his Dundee parliamentary seat in the November 1922 general election. Chartwell went on to serve as his family home for the next four decades, a period the National Trust confirms in its own account of the property.An undistinguished farmhouse with a view over the Weald It is not the architecture that convinced Churchill to buy Chartwell. He bought a farmhouse that had tile-hung gables and small and dark windows, one that was largely in a dilapidated condition in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is the sight of the Weald from the garden side of Chartwell that appealed to him. The Historic Environment Record of Kent County Council, under the official entry for Chartwell Garden, mentions how the location is at the head of a valley, with slopes leading south to distant views of the Kentish landscape and plain of River Eden.Philip Tilden's alterations, 1922 to 1924 To turn the farmhouse into a comfortable family home, Churchill engaged architect Philip Tilden, who worked on the property from 1922 to 1924. According to the Historic Environment Record maintained by Kent County Council, Tilden's alterations included adding an eastward wing, a stepped gable on the south front, and simplifying the west elevation.Financial strain nearly cost Churchill his homeIn the decades that followed, Chartwell proved to be far more than a simple retreat: it became an expensive property to maintain. Churchill faced repeated pressure to sell it, most seriously after the Second World War, when his finances were again under strain. In the words of the International Churchill Society, the property continued to weigh on his finances until a group of his friends and admirers, led by Lord Camrose, bought it in 1946.Churchill passed away in January 1965, after Chartwell had been his home, on and off, for nearly four decades, a stretch that included a serious stroke he suffered in 1953 while serving his second term as prime minister, an episode both the National Trust and the International Churchill Society recount in their histories of the house. Clementine relinquished her claim to the property soon afterward, and on 22 June 1966 the Trust opened the estate to the public, as detailed in the National Trust's own account of Chartwell's history. Garden designer Lanning Roper then advised on the grounds from 1965 to 1980, and Historic England's register entry for Chartwell notes that his work, most concentrated between 1965 and 1968, shaped much of the garden's present-day planting and layout, building on the structural features Churchill had already built himself, including the lakes and the kitchen garden walls.80 acres open to visitors More than a century after Churchill signed the purchase papers, 104 years on from 1922, Chartwell remains open as a National Trust property, as the International Churchill Society's own visitor page confirms. Visitors can explore about 80 acres of grounds, including the hillside gardens the Churchills created, the lakes Churchill built, the walled kitchen garden he helped construct, and an orchard surrounded by wildflower meadow. The interiors still hold items Churchill left behind, such as books and personal memorabilia, along with the largest collection of his paintings, exhibited in the studio he used.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.