The buildings of the village include several 17th century timber framed houses, some now cased in brick. In the angle between The Street and Coldharbour Lane was Dulaney House, a Gothic villa built circa 1830, which was destroyed by fire in 1945. The former stables are now two homes. Further south is France hamlet, which includes an 18th-century farm-house cased in brick, some late-19th century cottages, and a converted barn. The modern name may be an allusion to its separateness from the village, or to the Napoleonic prisoner of war camp once situated in the vicinity.

In the 19th and earlier 20th centuries a number of houses were built along the Chichester to Brighton road, which became the A27. It is now Arundel Road, Patching, following bypassing in 1995. In the 20th century a small number of new houses were built in the village itself, including a number of tied cottages for the Norfolk Estate. Worthing Rural District Council also built a number of council houses in the 1920s and 1930s at Hillside on the A280 Long Furlong, at its junction with Coldharbour Lane. More recent development has been very limited as a result of strict planning policies.

The social history of the parishes of Clapham and Patching in the 20th century is detailed in an illustrated book called “Bricks and Water”, published to celebrate the Millennium in 2000.