Snooping around: Harbourside cottages

Property of the week: Stowmarket, Suffolk. Inside this fantasy two-bedder a wood-burning stove in an inglenook fireplace warms two large, beamed reception rooms. The kitchen has been revamped in Shaker style and the shower room updated. It sits in more than a quarter of an acre of lawned, beautifully planted gardens with two summerhouses, a Nissen hut and a greenhouse. One bedroom opens off the other, and there's no bath. Cost: £250,000.
Bedfords, 01284 769999 Photograph: Bedfords/Bedfords

Wreck of the week: Rye, East Sussex. These listed almshouses have permission to link and expand into a four-bed house. The main task is to replace the 60's flat-top extension with the approved two-storey substitute, and update the interior - £150,000 should do it, and any works should be VAT-exempt. A striking glazed link will lead from the old to the new quarters, and there are plans for a large kitchen/family room. Yours for £250,000.
Calcutt Maclean Standen, 01797 229922 Photograph: Calcutt Maclean Standen/Calcutt Maclean Standen

Take three: harbourside homes. This 18th-century house in Ferry Slip, Dartmouth, is yours for £470,000. It sits on the water and offers views over the River Dart to a castle. Inside there is a reception, a kitchen/breakfast room, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. You can survey the harbour from the roof terrace. However, it needs £100,000 spent on renovations, there’s no garden and the small ferry lands cars and passengers right by your windows.
Marchand Petit, 01803 839190 Photograph: Marchand Petit/Marchand Petit

Take three: harbourside homes. Davits attached to the balcony allow you to store and lower a boat into the water below this two-bedder near Looe, Cornwall. From said balcony and from the 25ft first-floor living room you can oversee activities in this fetching harbour. It also has a reception, a kitchen/breakfast room, a bathroom, underfloor heating, a chic kitchen and a turning oak staircase. Cost: £525,000.
Savills, 01872 243200 Photograph: Savills/Savills

Take three: harbourside homes. This townhouse in Conwy, north Wales, is built into the ancient wall and ramparts that still enclose the town, and opens on to the pretty quayside. £385,000 buys you a reception, a kitchen, five bedrooms and two bath/shower rooms. The walls and ceilings are beamed and a stone inglenook dominates the living room. From the front step are views of Conwy castle. Parking can be a problem in the tourist season.
Coast & Marina Properties, 01492 580500 Photograph: Coast & Marina/Coast & Marina