Old and new

Historic home: Kent. In its early youth it was a hall house thought to have been built for a 14th-century abbess of West Malling Abbey. Its wooden medieval framework and dung and straw walls are enticingly exposed along with a 9ft inglenook and bread oven. The 21st century has contributed handsome embellishments such as a Shaker-style kitchen/breakfast room, a new bathroom and a oak-crafted garden room with an Indian slate floor and vaulted ceiling. There's a mezzanine study area over one of the three double bedrooms. It's in the centre of this fetching old town with a secluded garden. Cost: £485,000. Strutt and Parker, 01732 459500 Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Historic home: Powys. An extravagance of wall and ceiling timbers are testament to this £395,000 five-bedder's 500-year-old vintage. A former farmhouse near Llandysilio on the Welsh borders, it still owns 3.5 acres of land plus a barn and tack room. The sitting and dining rooms and the kitchen/breakfast room are floored with slate, there's a third reception room, scope for expansion in the attics and the original oak staircase. James & Co, 01691 657077 Photograph: guardian.co.uk

New build: London. The Ink Building has arisen in eight bendy layers on the site of an old printing works in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. From here it is a gentle stroll to Portobello Market and Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove stations. The one- and two-bedroom apartments have heated oak floors, computerised lighting, two designer bathrooms and either a balcony or terrace. For few grand extra you get a secure parking space and everyone can rejoice in the communal gardens. Prices start from £395,000. Marsh and Parsons, 020 7368 4830 Photograph: guardian.co.uk

New build: Norfolk. This had always been an unremarkable bungalow in a remarkable setting – the middle of the Norfolk Broads with wide views of marshland and water. Then in 2003 architects were brought in to dignify it and added a chimney and pitched roof to resemble a ship's mast and sail. Most of the three bedrooms, two receptions and kitchen and breakfast room are clad in maple with underfloor heating. A mirrored studio reflects the views at the bottom of the garden. Yours for £695,000. Bedfords, 01328 730500 Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Bargain of the week: County Durham. Here you have a venerable old station house near Bishop Aukland which has been sliced into three three- and four-bed houses. But for a railway line out back, which is currently only used by the odd steam train but might one day have to accommodate freight, and for the developer's desire to sell quickly, homes of this size would fetch up to £30,000 more. Both remaining properties have a large conservatory off the kitchen/breakfast room, two receptions and an en suite to the master bedroom. Prices start from £175,000. George F. White, 01388 527966 Photograph: guardian.co.uk