Old and new

Historic home: Kent. In the 15th century this two-bed cottage in Aylesford was a merchant's home. The Georgians stuck a modern facade on it, but three Tudor fireplaces remain, the kitchen floor is original cobbles and the bedrooms are beamed and pitched. Nostalgics can cook on a Victorian range in the kitchen hearth. A garden with views to a river ends in a brook with a drawbridge to help you over. Cost £249,995.
Hatch Batten, 01732 874000 Photograph: Hatch Batten/Hatch Batten

Historic home: Yorkshire. If a fully rounded lifestyle is what you seek then head to the village of Kellington near Goole. This was once, obviously, a windmill, but will now snugly house a family in its three-bed, curvaceous sitting room and glamourised kitchen/breakfast room. French doors open said living room on to the third-of-an-acre of garden. Yours for £240,000.
Hunters, 01757 210884 Photograph: Hunters/Hunters

New build: Kent. Grafted on to the dinky village of Coxheath near Maidstone is this Crest Nicholson development of flats and houses, all with a smug eco rating and distributed around greens and playgrounds. A central lantern roof light in each home sucks in solar energy and a ventilation system with heat recovery is built in. Prices start at £139,500 for a one-bed apartment and £245,000 for a four-bed house.
Crest Nicholson, 0870 755 9830 Photograph: Crest Nicholson/Crest Nicholson

New build: Cornwall. These blocks fancy themselves as Miami's South Beach here to glamourise Newquay. The sea may be rougher and greyer than in Florida but it is right outside your windows, and you are 200m from the surfing utopia of Fistral Beach (surfboard storage is built in to the flats). Most of the two- and three-bed apartments have a private terrace or balcony overlooking the Atlantic rollers. Prices from £250,000 to £470,000.
Knight Frank, 01392 848844 Photograph: Knight Frank/Knight Frank

Bargain of the week: Devon. This is a startlingly economic way to upsize. For £385,000 you get seven bedrooms and expansive living arranged as two self-contained flats, although you could rejig it into one mighty household. It is part of a redeveloped hospital, now a "new village" called Moorhaven, and shares 67 acres of communal grounds with the neighbours. The private terraced garden, while pretty, is a bit small for a large household and the lower flat needs some pampering.
Marchand Petit, 01548 831163 Photograph: Marchand Petit/Marchand Petit