In 1935 he was elected Member of Parliament for the Essex constituency of Southend, a seat previously held by both his father-in-law and his mother-in-law.

His diaries record his friendships, and affairs, with many of the royals, aristocrats and the merely wealthy who populated the London social scene in the decades prior to and following World War II and are filled with "accounts of London dinners, luncheons or balls, or long country-house weekend parties".

[5] Channon became very attached to the house, his diary entries frequently referring to its dream-like qualities; "Kelvedon is looking a dream of vernal lush beauty".

[11] He immediately engaged his friend, Gerald Wellesley, an architect and heir to the Dukedom of Wellington, to undertake renovations.

Wellesley, working with his partner Trenwith Wells, made alterations to the house and improvements to the grounds.

[13] Kelvedon is built to a U-plan, with a three-storey, seven-bay central block linked to two-storey pavilions at either side.

[e][17] James Bettley, in his Essex volume of the Pevsner Buildings of England series, describes the unusual style of this pool pavilion as "Neo-Austrian-Baroque".