Snooping around

Property of the week: Coast Road, Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. Antique civilisation meets wilderness as the land melts into bog and a shingle bank keeps the sea at bay, all of which can be viewed from the garden above the house, which used to be two cottages. It’s a snug place with an oak bressumer over a fireplace in the sitting room, and three bedrooms. A modernising touch would refresh its looks behind the plastic front door. Yours for £395,000.
Bedfords, 01328 730500. Photograph: Bedfords

Wreck of the week: Mill Lane, Marnhull, Dorset. This four-bedroom, 18th-century house was once two labourers’ cottages. Once you’ve rewired, replumbed and updated the heating, kitchen and bathroom, you may want to reconfigure the plaster-board partitions, replace the plastic windows and unsightly solar panels, and square-off the dining room. £50,000-£75,000 should do it, but that's on top of the £395,000 asking price.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01747 850858. Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Take three: homes near stations. With one reception room, a kitchen/dining room, three bedrooms and a bathroom, this new terrace in Wadhurst, East Sussex, is intended to resemble a Georgian mansion. The sitting room is floored with oak, and it has a gas coal-effect fire and French doors that open on to the lawn. The station, which delivers you to three London destinations in 70 minutes, is directly opposite. It costs £345,000.
Freeman Forman, 01892 515300. Photograph: Freeman Forman

Take three: homes near stations. This six-month-old duplex is in Berkhampsted, Hertfordshire. Trains bound for London Euston pull in over the road, while narrow boats pass along the Grand Union Canal to the rear. With an open-plan reception room/kitchen, cloakroom and two bedrooms it has plenty of space inside, but little outside apart from a small balcony. Nearby National Trust woodland offers welcome refuge, however. Cost: £395,000.
Nash Partnership, 01442 863000. Photograph: Nash Partnership

Take three: homes near stations. In Weeton, North Yorkshire, this large house has three reception rooms, a kitchen with Aga, breakfast room, four bedrooms, two bath/shower rooms, a garage and a car port. It’s a wholesome walk to the station, which connects you with mainline services in Leeds and York, while Leeds Bradford airport is seven miles away. All yours for a tidy £625,000.
Knight Frank, 01423 530088. Photograph: Knight Frank