The Chalet

The Chalet is a Norwegian chalet, likely dating from the late 19th century. It was re-erected in Bidborough in 1906 and subsequently given to the China Inland Missionary Society, who use it as a holiday cottage for missionaries. The building is constructed using Norwegian framed construction, set on a brick plinth, with the frame clad in narrow horizontal weatherboarding and some vertical panels. It has a gabled slate roof and an axial brick stack.

The house faces east and is approximately rectangular in plan, with a double depth and a south-east wing at right angles with a rear (west) outshut. The principal entrance is on the east side, leading to a stair, while a second entrance is located at the south end of the outshut.

The exterior is two storeys in height, with an attic to the outshut. Deep eaves and verges are present throughout, with the gables infilled with variously decorated boarding and moulded bargeboards. The asymmetrical east elevation is gabled to the front, featuring four ground floor windows and two first floor windows. A panelled front door is located within an outshut, set back at the extreme right end. A single four-pane fixed window is on the left, while the other ground floor windows are two-pane with diagonal glazing bars to the upper panes. One first floor window has a pair of round-headed lights with high transoms in a square frame. The south return includes a pair of four-pane ground floor sash windows and three first floor casements, two panes per light. The outshut entrance, on the left, has a flight of four steps, featuring plank balustrades with pierced roundels and newels with ball finials. These steps are sheltered by a sloping gabled roof with a finial on the outer gable and a two-leaf half-glazed inner door. To the left of the outshut entrance, a three-light casement with a high transom and triangular head is present. Three similar windows on the west side of the outshut form an enclosed verandah with shaped posts between the windows, topped by a rectangular roof dormer. The west end of the main range has a three-light ground floor casement and a first floor casement, both with round-headed lights. The north elevation includes an outshut supported on a brick pier, with steps leading to a door, and a one-light window with diagonal glazing bars lighting the entrance. A further two-light casement is situated in the centre of the north elevation, both ground and first floor.

The interior has not been inspected, but is likely to be of interest. The building is considered a complete example of its type, retaining original door and window furniture.