Property gallery: Town and country

Country retreat: Northumberland. You can escape most urban snares on this £485,000 four-bed smallholding north of Byrness, the last village in England. Wind and solar power will provide most of your energy and your 10 acres of Northumberland soil should help feed the family. There are thrilling views over the Catcleugh reservoir and Redesdale Forest - an area of outstanding natural beauty. Outbuildings will absorb extraneous family/livestock.
George F. White, 01434 674244 Photograph: George F. White/George F. White

Country retreat: Surrey. Here you can enjoy roses round the door and still hold down a city job. Trains reach London Waterloo in under an hour from the village of Milford, near Godalming. Once home you can wander the fields that adjoin this 15th-century cottage and its orchard garden. It’s a commuter price - £475,000 for two bedrooms and a reception room, but it is extravangantly beamed and trussed and you could expand into the barn/garage.
Clarke Gammon Wellers, 01483 417131 Photograph: Clarke Gammon Wellers/Clarke Gammon Wellers

City pad: York. York Minster looms dramatically over the large roof terrace off this one-bedroom mezzanine apartment. An installed patio heater means you can dine scenically through the seasons. Full-height sliding windows lead from here into the smartly fitted living area. Because there are no adjoining properties on three sides it is unexpectedly peaceful, despite an address in the city centre. Yours for £240,000.
Carter Jonas, 01904 558200 Photograph: Carter Jonas/Carter Jonas

City pad: London. These three towers will have their own pedestrian link to the Docklands Light Railway at East India Dock and Canary Wharf is a walk away. You can survey the London skyline and the Thames from the balcony, seek oxygen in landscaped grounds and tone up in one of the proposed health and fitness suites. Off-plan one bedroom apartments with Zanussi-fitted kitchens start at £219,995.
Barrett Homes/Elektron, 020 7987 1855 Photograph: Barrett Homes/Elektron/Barrett Homes/Elektron

Dream home: Isle of Skye. This £320,000 four-bedder hugs the shore. Inside, this Edwardian manse is a model of decorum - varnished floors, neutral paintwork and original panelled doors. The rooms are large, lofty and multiple - two living rooms, a study, a pantry, a utility room and a breakfast kitchen - and many of them overlook the sea and mainland mountains. It sits in half an acre of wood- and water-bordered garden in Broadford village.
Isle of Skye Estate Agency, 01478 612683 Photograph: Isle of Skye Estate Agency/Isle of Skye Estate Agency

Bargain of the week: Devon. A year ago this rectory was on the market for £950,000. Now it’s yours for £599,950. For that you get six bedrooms (four of them en suite), three reception rooms, a self-contained maisonette and a convertible coach house in seven acres, three miles from Tavistock. The previous owners used it as a B&B and campsite, and the grounds and the house are in need of a little cosmetic surgery.
Fulfords, 01822 616 121 Photograph: Fulfords/Fulfords