Old and new

Historic home: Hampshire. This £345,000 semi has weathered the past four centuries very tactfully, acquiring a large kitchen, an upstairs bathroom and a garage to please 21st century residents, while still flaunting ceiling beams, an open fire and an attached thatched barn used as a workshop and utility room. The large garden backs onto fields and there's a pretty prelude up the long, front path. The hamlet of Ragged Appleshaw is handy for Andover and its mainline rail services to London.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01962 844299
Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Historic home: Norfolk. Its Elizabethan air is illusory: the mansion was built by a banker in 1865 and adopted by the Colman family of mustard fame. Since then the village of Trowse has been absorbed into Norwich and the mansion sliced into apartments. Much of this three-bed, three-bath portion is the old banqueting hall, meaning a vaulted, wood-latticed ceiling for the huge reception room and large leaded windows overlooking communal gardens. Residents share a stunning conservatory designed by the builders of St Pancras station. Cost: £560,000.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01603 612333
Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

New build: Bedfordshire. Six bedrooms for £435,000 within a 30-minute rail ride from London is a rare thrill. These 3,000 to 6,500 sq ft villas in Bedford were part of the old de Montfort university site and have been newly reclaimed as family properties by Storey Homes. All but two are the original Victorian buildings with three storeys, bay windows and an extensive wine cellar and all are smartly kitted out with appliances and technology.
Urban & Rural, 01234 272282
Photograph: Urban & Rural

New build: Dorset. From the vast master bedroom you'll be able to step out onto a terrace and survey swaths of north Dorset. This, when completed, will be a daring addition to Shaftesbury's famously olde worlde architecture and an extravagance of modern luxuries. All four bedrooms are en suites, all the floors are heated and a coffee machine is built into the designer kitchen. A bespoke curving oak staircase is the centre piece and most rooms will have floor-to ceiling windows. Yours for £925,000.
Chesterton Humberts, 01747 853492
Photograph: Chesterton Humberts

Bargain of the week: London. If this south-west London house was of a more appealing vintage it would probably fetch £100,000 more than its asking price because it's just off Clapham high street with a choice of a myriad train services from Clapham Junction. As it is, if a plain exterior does not worry you, you'll get four double bedrooms, two reception rooms and a slice of garden, all recently refurbished, for £499,950.
Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, 020 8675 5436
Photograph: Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward