Old and new

New-build: Norfolk. Canadian red cedar clads this newcomer to the resort of Old Hunstanton. Inside, lined with Italian tiles and Berber wool carpets, is an open-plan living area and three bedrooms. Handmade oak cupboards absorb clutter in two bedrooms, there is a wall-mounted stainless steel plasma gas fire, and stone worktops in the designer kitchen. The heating is underfloor and the lighting trendily recessed. Cost: £495,000.
Belton Duffey, 01553 770055 Photograph: Belton Duffey/Belton Duffey

New-build: East Sussex. It hopes to persuade you it is an authentic fishing village clustered behind the long white stretches of Camber Sands with views over the neighbouring nature reserve. In fact, it is a newly arisen development of two-, three- and four-bed cottages behind white picket fences. The ancient port of Rye is a few miles up the East Sussex coast. Prices start from £185,000 for a two-bedroom terraced house.
Ward Homes, 01797 229911 Photograph: Ward Homes/Ward Homes

Historic home: Shropshire. Thomas Telford built this £345,000 three-bedder to service the then new canal in 1832, and the original water pump survives in the conservatory, although the canal has silted up. It sits in the middle of lawned gardens in the village of Wappenshall near Telford. A new garage block houses a family room and a shower room, while a room in the main house leading off the master bedroom is plumbed to become a bathroom.
Balfours, 01743 353511 Photograph: Balfours/Balfours

Historic home: Kent. The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England compiled a report on this £499,950 four-bedder. It is thought to have been part of a larger now vanished house in Wye. Grotesque figures hunched into brackets on the facade – their feet fettered to stop them wandering into the house – illustrate its pedigree. The stone hearth in the living room bears the arms of the Swan family who lived here from the 16th century. There are four bedrooms, two receptions, a study and garden.
Calcutt Maclean Wood, 01233 812060 Photograph: Calcutt Maclean Wood/Calcutt Maclean Wood

Dream home: Derbyshire. Romantics will be smitten before they even set eyes on the place – the first views are of acres of woodland, eight of which belong to this £395,000 three-bed cottage. A gated drive delivers you from the wider world into Matlock Dale wood and your large lawned gardens. Inside it is elegant with space to expand. The reception room and bedrooms have views over Derbyshire to High Tor. The nearby A6 will restore you to real life when needed.
Scargill Mann & Co, 01629 584591 Photograph: Scargill Mann & Co/Scargill Mann & Co