- A converted 1903 chapel on Cormont Road, Camberwell, was listed for £2.85 million
- It was once part of a women teachers’ training college
- Designer Peggy Prendeville bought it in 1999 to save it from being subdivided
- The home keeps its stained glass, vaulted ceiling, altar steps and choir stalls
A former chapel in south London has been listed as a four-bedroom home for £2.85 million, Time Out reported in February 2023. The building on Cormont Road in Camberwell was built in 1903 as part of a women teachers’ training college.
Interior designer Peggy Prendeville bought the chapel in 1999 to keep it from being split into smaller units. She kept its original features, including the stained-glass windows, vaulted ceiling, marble altar steps and wooden choir stalls, and put a home gym at the altar end.
The home covers 3,200 square feet, with an open-plan living area of 1,176 square feet. Two bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe and a study sit in the former organ loft. Prendeville said she wanted to “not lose the sense of calm that this building with its beautiful proportions and stained glass windows had.”
The property, marketed by the Unique Property Company, was first listed at £2.95 million in 2020 and had since been reduced slightly.
Camberwell is close to Brixton and Peckham, areas with deep Jamaican roots, and the price shows what happens when a former chapel becomes a luxury home rather than a place of worship. Caribbean congregations looking for their own buildings in south London now compete with a residential market where converted chapels can sell for millions. For church trustees selling historic buildings, and for congregations hoping to buy one, the Camberwell listing shows how much the residential market can pay for character.
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