Home Bishops Stortford, Essex Junction 8 of the M11 is a quarter of a mile away from this 1920s probate sale. The road to the village has been bypassed, so the £450,000 home is shielded from commuter queues and sit buffered by one acre of lawned garden. The ground floor has been expanded into four receptions post-war, but upstairs there’s only space for a tiny shower room serving the three bedrooms. Decor and fittings could do with renewal and you’ll need ask the agent about some structural movement in the building.
Mullucks Wells 01279 755400 Photograph: Mullucks Wells
Home Stapleton, Bristol This Georgian building is in a former village on the fringe of the city, less than a mile from the M32 and 2.5 miles from the M4. Many original features are still intact, if shabby. An elaborate panelled plaster ceiling creates an aristocratic drawing room and you can remove added dividing walls and plasterboard to open out the once grand hallway. Once renovated – and this will be a big job – it will provide seven graceful bedrooms and three receptions plus study, over a spread of cellarage. A very dilapidated coach house has potential, planning permission allowing, and there are outbuildings in the 0.6 acres of garden. It’s up for auction on 20 March with a reserve price of £425,000 to £475,000.
Morgan Beddoe Auction House 0117 946 4949 Photograph: Morgan Beddoe
Home Tayles Hill Drive, Epsom, Surrey It may be a mere studio, but it’s on the first floor of a Grade II listed mansion, under five miles from the M25 and a short walk from the shops and cafes of Ewell village. High ceilings and tall sash windows disguise the smallness of your share and the £168,950 asking price entitles you to use the large communal gardens. It’s currently lodging long-standing tenants and can yield 5% gross, or start you off on the housing ladder in this pricey part of the land.
Aston Mead 01372 727071 Photograph: Aston Mead
Home Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne The A1 runs close to this development on the edge of the city and speeds you south to London as a motorway or to Edinburgh as a trunk road. The owners have upgraded the £347,500 house on a corner plot, turning two of the five bedrooms into elegant en suites, installing a stylish kitchen, open-plan to a family room and adding a cast iron fireplace to the living room. There’s a garage and off-road parking to the side.
Sanderson Young 0191 213 0033 Photograph: Sanderson Young
Away Honfleur, Normandy, France Once a pressoir, it has been converted into a £375,146 home less than three miles from the A13 autoroute and 20 minutes from the Channel ferry port at Le Havre. There are plenty of outdoor activities to choose from. The dining room opens onto a barbecue terrace and beyond that is a salt-water swimming pool and a tennis court and large grounds, including a lake. There is a golf course a short car ride away, as well as the Normandy beaches. Inside a large stone fireplace will be helpful in winter and there are original ceiling beams. Three of the five bedrooms are doubles and three bathrooms serve them all.
Leggett 08700 11 51 51 Photograph: Leggett
