A little piece of Eden: It was the bolthole of a famous PM - and now you can own a slice of the unique country pile he affectionately dubbed Old Binders 

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It once belonged to Anthony Eden, the former Tory Prime Minister, and was where the politician would relax away from the rigours of Parliament. From 1941 to 1952, Eden, who would go on to become Prime Minister in the mid-1950s, had Binderton House as his country home, and when he left, he did so as a successful Foreign Secretary.

But Eden’s rising fortunes in politics came at the cost of his marriage, and it was at Binderton that his first marriage – to Beatrice Beckett, the daughter of a Conservative MP herself – unravelled. When Eden became Prime Minister in 1955, he was the first divorcé to do so.

Beatrice is said to have hated politics and to have had affairs with other men, while Eden’s hours were unrelenting. And after their first son, Simon, was reported missing in action in Burma in 1945, the couple’s differences became insurmountable, with Beatrice leaving Eden and going to live in America.

A two-bedroom property in Chichester, Sussex, that once belonged to former Tory PM Anthony Eden is on sale for £565,000

Then, between 1946 and 1950, Eden conducted an open affair with the wife of an Earl, before Beatrice and Eden divorced. Two years later Eden married Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, whose uncle – then Prime Minister Winston Churchill – was Eden’s long-time boss.

Eden affectionately called his Sussex home ‘Old Binders’ and he wrote in his diary that he liked the house because ‘it had good rooms which will take our furniture and above all, lovely countryside’.

It certainly is old: it was built in 1677 before being remodelled in about 1780. When Eden bought it, it was a self-contained house, but it was divided into five apartments in the 1980s. One of these apartments is currently for sale through Jackson-Stops estate agents for £565,000. The ground-floor flat in question incorporates the room that was Eden’s ballroom and is being sold by Anne and Harvey Marodeen, who have lived there for 15 years.

The ballroom is now a panelled drawing room. It is 30ft long, with original floors, a corniced ceiling, a fireplace and window bay. French doors open on to a private garden surrounded by yew hedging, borders and a terrace. There’s a barbecue area as well as a wine cellar, which is accessible from the side of the property. At the front of the house there is a grapevine, from which the house’s residents have produced their own wine.

From 1941 to 1952, Eden (left), who would go on to become Prime Minister in the mid-1950s, had Binderton House as his country home. His wife Beatrice is pictured (right) enjoying the property's garden

The ground-floor apartment's drawing room (pictured) was once Eden's ballroom and includes a corniced ceiling, a fireplace and window bay

The Marodeens, who have three children and six grandchildren, also have a kitchen/dining room with two matching sash windows, each with window seats. The master bedroom, meanwhile, has a high ceiling, large sash windows, shutters and an en suite bathroom. There is a second bedroom and separate shower room.

There are idyllic views of the picturesque surrounding countryside from virtually all rooms in the apartment. ‘I love waking up to views of Goodwood Downs,’ says Anne. ‘We also love the fact that a former Prime Minister lived here, which makes the house unique and special.

‘All the residents of Binderton House are extremely friendly,’ says Harvey. ‘We get together for garden parties and other social engagements and it’s a nice friendly atmosphere.

‘Harvey and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time at Binderton House and the only reason we are moving is to downsize,’ says Anne, a former actress and dancer who currently runs a Montessori nursery. Harvey is retired and used to run a worldwide naval outfitters, which supplied uniforms to the British and Canadian navies. 

The apartment's kitchen with its two sash windows and window seats is very light and airy

The Grade II listed house, which is approached via a long gravel driveway, still has its late 17th Century staircase in the communal hallway. Bringing the house up to date is a garaging block next to it, but alongside the road to Binderton House stands another element of its past – a roofless ruin of a church.

In the late 17th Century, the owner of Binderton House – Thomas Smith, like Eden a Parliamentarian – pulled down Binderton Church to extend the house, arranging for a new church to be built. However, the local vicar refused to consecrate it as Smith would not fully fund its construction, so the roofless ruin of Smith’s church stands by the road to this day.

Standing within the South Downs National Park, Binderton is a mile from the village of West Dean, and Chichester is four miles away

• jackson-stops.co.uk, 01243 786316.