Renovating this 18th-century mansion could cost almost as much as the £450,000 asking price, but the prestige will be priceless. There you’ll be lording it over nearly 10 acres of parkland from your six bedrooms and five stately receptions (not including the staff accommodation, naturally). Although the last couple of decades have passed the place by, the Georgian and Victorian legacies of high-corniced ceilings, marble fireplaces and panelled doors are fine ingredients to work with, although a Grade B listing might cramp more adventurous styles.
Strutt & Parker, 0131 226 2500 Photograph: Strutt & Parker
The vast expanse of thatch under which this barn lurks is, mercifully, new but the rest is yours to play with as you wish, provided your ambitions don’t displease the council. Current planning permission allows it to be modified into a three-bedroom cottage of hidden depths for its footprint exceeds 2,000 sq ft. It’s not a very rural idyll for a barn, being on a residential street in a large village, and its garden will amount to a mere courtyard once divvied up with the neighbouring property which currently owns it, but it’s only three miles from glorious beaches. Guide price: £175,000.
Jackson-Stops, 01603 612 333 Photograph: Jackson-Stops
In its glory days it was a farm; now it’s a derelict house on the rim of Kirton’s modern spread. Never again can it pay its way through agriculture, but what’s left of the estate – more than an acre of land and a scattering of outbuildings – gives you plenty of scope and the house itself is large with five bedrooms, three receptions and, beneath the decay, plenty of period graces. Handily sited too, with the countryside starting to one side and the town market place a walk away to the other. Asking price: £395,000.
Fine & Country, 01472 867 880 Photograph: Fine & Country
The basics are all here – even part of a kitchen – but the insides of this Grade II listed property need to be pared back and redone from wiring to paintwork. The rewards will be considerable. It’s in the centre of this beautiful market town near Cambridge, with an 80 ft walled garden and side access. The open-plan reception is 21 ft long, the bathroom is upstairs and the three bedrooms are doubles. The only challenges are likely to be the lilliputian kitchen and where to leave the car. Offers from £250,000.
Mullocks Wells, 01799 520 520 Photograph: Mullocks Wells
You can more or less disregard the stone ruin on this swathe of hillside, for what you’re buying is the 2,293m2 building plot and the chance to build a two-storey 254.77m2 villa agreed upon by local planners. It’s eight minutes from this rustic spot to Mojácar’s miles of sandy beaches and the old sugar-cube village and golf course, and you can glimpse the sea over the dusty hilltops. Asking price: €49,600.
Property Venture, 01932 849 536 Photograph: Property Venture
