Snooping around

Property of the week: Burnham Norton, Norfolk. This riveting alien looms over the north Norfolk coast and boasts a wigwam chimney with a glass panel at the top through which the stars wink. A portion of the living room is glass, which can be cast aside in the summer months to expose views over salt marshes to a windmill. The walls are cosily clad in birch plywood. £550,000.
The Modern House, 08456 344068. Photograph: The Modern House/The Modern House

Wreck of the week: St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover, Kent. This three-bed farm-worker’s cottage is just 500 yards from the edge of the white cliffs of Dover. Owned by the National Trust, it needs complete reconstructive surgery - on top of the £275,000 price tag, an additional £150,000-£200,000 would restore it to trust standards, who would also want a say in renovation plans.
Strutt & Parker, 01227 451123. Photograph: Strutt & Parker /Strutt & Parker

Take three: lofts. The smell of boiled cabbage has long since wafted out of this school building on Battersea Park Road, south-west London, which is now a gated community. This portion has a full-height, long-windowed, open-plan living space with a mezzanine bedroom. True to form the playing fields are long gone, as is your chance of a garden, but you do get a parking space. £495,000.
Chesterton, 020 7924 6191. Photograph: Chesterton/Chesterton

Take three: lofts. This Victorian lace mill, serenely perched on a canal bank in Derbyshire, is being reinvented by City Lofts Group as 105 studios and one- to two-bedroom apartments. Terence Conran has kitted out the interiors with minimalist chic. Prices at Springfield Mill, Sandiacre, start at £100,000.
Springfield Mill, 01159 398656. Photograph: Springfield Mill/Springfield Mill

Take three: lofts. Built in reverence to the Almighty, now Mammon is the required qualification for residents of this former convent in Scorton, near Richmond, North Yorkshire. A grade II listing secures its gothic glamour, but the interiors are more modern minimalism with open-plan rooms, glass balustrades, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. £245,000.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01325 489948. Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff/Jackson-Stops & Staff