This five-bedroom vicarage, across the road from the river in this coastal town and on the market for £430,000, was cannily built on a slope 100ft above water level. The stately rooms are surrounded by capacious gardens and it’s a short stroll along the river to the estuary and the sea, where you can watch your less fortunate neighbours being pummelled by storm surges.
Smiths Gore, 01289 333030 Photograph: Smiths Gore
Kidbrooke Village, a 109-acre development of homes, shops and parkland, is a £1bn reinvention of a run-down housing estate. First-time buyers in £295,000 flats can share the residents’ gym with millionaires in six-figure-sum town houses. It’s a site defined by waterways, but a recently created lake in the neighbouring wetlands, ingenious drainage systems, green roofs and permeable pavements should spare the new homeowners unwanted intimacy with the rivers when it pours.
Berkeley, 020 8150 5151 Photograph: Berkeley
This six-bedroom mill becomes an island when the river is in full flood. A bridge allows you to come and go, and since the accommodation is set high you need never get your feet wet. Fishing rights allow you to dine from the river when the water recedes. The 300-year-old building, on the market for £500,000, has been lavishly refurbished with Indian slate flooring across the three reception rooms and study, and there are two palatial bedroom suites.
Strutt & Parker, 01743 284200 Photograph: Strutt & Parker
This four-bedroom, two-storey apartment enjoys the full glory of the river Tamar from its balcony – but there is no danger of flood waters getting too close since it’s perched above the rooftops of the lower town in a newly converted block. It is sleekly fitted with two receptions, a study and a dressing room – although mortgage lenders won’t like the fact it sits above a cafe and a takeaway. The vendor is throwing in a year’s parking permit for the town centre car park where you will have to leave your vehicle. Yours for £225,000.
Bradleys, 01752 845488 Photograph: Bradleys
The Aegean twinkles below this two-bedroom villa on the Bodrum Peninsula, but the development is loftily perched above any rogue waves. The only water approaching the living space is in the private swimming pool – in addition, there is a larger one you share with the neighbours. Below, a wild conservation area descends to the coast. The rooms are elegantly finished, and enjoy sea and mountain views from the balconies, while the annual service charge funds the concierge, pools and landscaping. What’s more, with the Turkish lira plummeting the £159,950 price is becoming cheaper in sterling terms.
Spot Blue, 020 8339 6036 Photograph: Spot Blue
