Brighton: it’s been practically impossible to miss it in the media this week, what with the political circus that is the Labour party conference rolling into town last Sunday.

And what a telly-genic place it is, too, particularly when the sun is shining, as it’s been doing a lot over the past few days.

Even Gordon Brown looked almost cheerful as he took a stroll along the seafront earlier in the week.  At least, I think that was the sentiment his face was aiming for.

Anyway, as it happens, our lovely Winging It offices are located in Brighton so while it’s topical, we’re taking advantage - here’s a selection of homegrown homes for sale with ascending numbers of bedrooms:

(Click on pics for full property details)

1. Brighton 1 bedroom
From £150,000

2. Brighton 2 bedrooms
£225,000

3. Brighton 3 bedrooms
from £300,000

4. Brighton 4 bedrooms
£580,000

5. Brighton 5 bedrooms
£1,500,000

The last we heard from Jamie Oliver on the property front he was dishing out £3.25 million to buy his neighbour’s house in celeb hotspot Primrose Hill. The plan, apparently, was to knock the two into one vast 19-bedroom mega mansion.

When he’s not there Oliver, presumably, is out at his country estate pottering around like a feudal lord, cooking up a storm in the garden shed, and practising noblesse oblige on Brian the gardener.

All of this, my friends, is a long long way from the tousled headed cheekie chappie who bounced around his trendy Clerkenwell pad in the very first series of The Naked Chef.

That was in 1999. Remember 1999? House prices were on the rise, loft living had come to London, Brits were starting to take food seriously, and Jamie burst onto our screens like an enthusiastic puppy dog.

The Naked Chef is easy to parody now – pukka tukka, bish-bash-bosh, go on my son – and Oliver, with his banister slides (see Youtube vid below), moped rides, mockney catch-phrases and beautiful friends, annoyed the hell out of a lot of people.

But the show, and his genuine enthusiasm and energy, caught the mood of the times - and the house was rather nice too: great big kitchen with semi-circular work surface, timber floors, cool spiral staircase, plenty of room for all those boho buddies … and an overfed film crew as well.

The place is now on the rental market - £1,400 per week for 2700 square feet set over three storeys with a great array of geezer-pleasing gadgets such as the waterproof plasma screen in the spa bathroom.

Furnished or unfurnished through EQ Living (0843 2817 861). Altogether now … Wicked!!!

What do you do when your building plot includes an enormous horse chestnut tree that you’re not allowed to cut down?

Grand Designs devotees will remember that architect Peter Romaniuk and his clients David and Anjana Devoy solved this problem by creating a beautiful curved house that traces the perimeter of the site and extends an elegant, protective arm around the tree and the garden.

The tree provided further inspiration in the form of a timber clad upper floor that was constructed from chestnut wood by a specialist boat builder. The lower floor is walled with glass and leads out onto an enclosed courtyard with the tree as a central feature.

This, I have to say, is one of the most memorable houses in the history of Grand Designs and the sainted McCloud was suitably effusive:

“This is a truly stunning building, adorned with lots of wonderful touches. Despite all their efforts to save money, Anjana and David are indulging their home with the best they can get. And I think it’s worth it. They have space now, and light, and the makings of a home with real excitement…”

It is, indeed, a thing of beauty. If you have £1.5m to spare, Friend & Flacke will be happy to hear from you (Tel:0843 2811 308).

You may remember that we reported the case of Adrian and Gail Wallbank a few years ago – the couple who were being asked to pay £230,000 towards the repair of St John the Baptist church in Warwickshire.

The bill came to them because they had inherited a farm that included ‘rectorial land’ (land that once belonged to a medieval church). This defined them as ‘lay rectors’ and as such they were deemed liable for the upkeep of the area near the altar known as the chancel.

They have fought the claim for 18 years but last December they finally lost in the Court of Appeal and are now selling their farm with a guide price of £500,000.

They plan to use the proceeds of the sale to pay off the £230,000 church repair bill and recoup the £250,000 they have spent on legal fees.

This might sound like some obscure local covenant, but 3.5 million acres of land in England and Wales, and the homes, schools, hospitals and factories built on it, are now thought to be potentially at risk from this archaic law.

So if you’re buying a house, get your solicitor to do the necessary checks. Go to the main site to read our guide to chancel repair bills.

And in the meantime, spare a thought for the unfortunate Wallbanks, who might have expected the local church to pursue the letter of the law with a little less punitive zeal.

Here at Winging It we love a bit of duck-related design, so when we came across Matt Pugh’s sublimely silly Duck Lamp at 100% Design we just knew we had to share it with you.

So here it is … and I think you’ll agree that there are no further words from me that could improve upon the experience.

The Duck Lamp is available in Oak or Walnut, fitted with standard brass light fittings, and costs £95.

Know of any other designer objects inspired by ducks? We’re always looking to add to our collection …

Here’s an interesting graph from the latest Hometrack survey. What it shows is the recovery in house prices over recent months.

The proportion of the asking price achieved rose to 92.4 per cent in September from a recent low of 88.3 per cent.

This is confirmed by our own research - our recently launched House Prices & Affordability Index reveals six consecutive months of stable or positive monthly price growth.

However, our research also shows that it’s the higher end of the market, populated by equity rich homeowners chasing a limited supply of property, that’s been driving the recent price rises. It is, moreover, London and the South that’s been most bouyant.

With this in mind, it’s hard to argue with the conclusion reached by Hometrack’s Richard Donnell: “Much of the increased activity in recent months has been driven by bargain hunters and those who are less affordability constrained.

“Looking ahead, it seems likely that low sales volumes and a general scarcity of housing for sale is a trend set to support prices in London and the South East for the remainder of the year and further price rises are
likely in the very short term.

“Across the rest of the country where the housing demand/supply imbalance is less pronounced overall prices are set to track sideways.”

If you’ve been watching the current Phillipe Starck thingy on the box (Design For Life) you’ll know that designers … well … they can be a bit precious, a bit daft, and occasionally quite mad.

Some of the ideas pitched by the students beggar belief, but none of them can quite match the antic capers of Starck himself.

His account of evolution in the episode I caught was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV in ages: “To start wiz, we was bacteria! Zen feesh. Aftair, we become frog … Perhaps tomorrow I will jump on zis box and fly!”

I’m sure you will Phillipe, I’m sure you will.

Flights of fancy are at the heart of a rather more focussed design competition launched by Electrolux, the results of which were unveiled at 100% Design today.

The entrants were asked to design home appliances that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes over the next nine decades.

The winner was a cooker that will, err, ‘make’ meat and fish by heating up animal molecules. So there’ll be no need to go out and spear a salmon or kill a calf (can’t see Gordon Ramsay liking that one).

There’s also a fridge that will teleport food straight to its shelves (hmm, wonder where they got that idea from?) and a personal flying rainwater catcher based on a hummingbird.

No futuristic competition worth its salt would be complete without a product designed to appal Prince Charles – so step forward the washing machine that does something unspeakable with nano-technology and negative ions.

And last, but by no means least, let’s hear it for the bug-eyed mobile greenhouse designed to facilitate the future exploration and population of Mars (like we haven’t made a big enough mess of this planet…)

Well done to New York-based Stephen Holl Architects who recently won an international competition to design a new building for the Glasgow School of Art.

Coincidentally, the Art School’s main building was also the result of an architectural competition back in the 1890s, which was won by a then unknown Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

But my favourite competition construction in Glasgow is the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, whose winning design was created by a London firm of architects, also at the tail end of the 19 th century.

However, the urban myth that exists in Glasgow about this building’s history is probably better known than the actual reality. 

The widely held belief is that, following the competition, the gallery was actually built back-to-front, and the distraught architect subsequently committed suicide by throwing himself from one of its two tallest towers.

A quick look in the FAQ section on Kelvingrove’s official website has confirmed that this story is, indeed, just a rumour.

Having grown up with this tale - Glasgow’s my home city - I’m actually quite disappointed to know the truth (although happy for the architect in question, clearly.)  Is that wrong of me?

The Property: The ruined remains of a Grade II* listed country house

The Place: Chepstow, Monmouthshire

The Price: £2,000,000

The Pain: When we say ruined, we mean ruined: the place is a roofless echoing shell. It is, however, a Grade II* listed echoing shell, which means if you do take it on you’ll have to work closely with conservation officers, heritage bodies, and top notch craftsmen.

It’s hard to estimate how much it will cost to transform this into a habitable home but the agent thinks you’ll need around £10m-£15m under your mattress to do the job properly.

The Gain: This one is a bit special: designed by the great neo-classical architect Sir John Soanes (who designed the Bank of England, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Royal Hospital Chelsea), it really is a prime piece of architectural heritage.

The house has the potential to be a quite magnificent private home but the grounds are equally impressive:129 acres of Grade I listed landscaped parkland.

The Agent: Jackson-Stops & Staff, Country Houses (Tel: 0843 2843 798).

Happy Arthur Day, one and all! If, like I was until a couple of hours ago, you were unaware of such a day, I can tell you that it’s in honour of Arthur Guinness who, 250 years ago today, signed the lease for his legendary brewery in Dublin.

Let me help you with the mental arithmetic, here:  that made it the year 1759. Which is why, at 17.59 GMT this evening, there’s going to be a toast to the great man in pubs around the world.

If ever there was an excuse needed to enjoy a pint of the black stuff, you can’t get a better one than that.

And, in our own humble tribute to Mr Guinness, this week’s 5 to View are homes in former breweries or brew houses.  Sláinte!

(Click on pics for full property details)

1. Fontmell Magna, Dorset
£500,000

2. North Walsham, Norfolk
£495,000

3. Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex
£187,000

4. Oswestry, Shropshire
£185,000

5. Crewkerne, Somerset
£102,500 (Offers Over)