Snooping around: Homes with funky facades

Property of week: London E2. This 1950s social experiment aimed to reinvent the neighbourly camaraderie of Victorian terraces without repeating Corbusier’s sterile blocks. The result was maisonettes clustered in four wings around a central area, with access via walkways. The block is now all shiny chic: large windows, wooden floors and open-plan living. It’s a shame the original principle of affordable living has been lost in the refit. Cost: £365,000.
Currell, 020 7241 4111 Photograph: Currell/Currell

Wreck of week: Spaxton, Somerset. This four-room annexed cottage is in a delectable position, with more than an acre of gardens divided by a brook and the option to buy three more acres. Its floors and ceilings need replacing, and there is no kitchen or bathroom - you’ll need up to £100,000, on top of the £180,000 asking price. What you get in reality is a two-bedroom cottage with no room to extend, and a very close neighbour.
Greenslade Taylor Hunt, 01278 425555 Photograph: Greenslade Taylor Hunt/Greenslade Taylor Hunt

Take three: homes with funky facades. Conceived in the 1920s, this folly in Saltash, Cornwall, boasts a sitting room, kitchen/dining room, study, three bedrooms, three bath/shower rooms, a garage and cellar. Any eccentricities inside have been smoothed over - modern stylings abound and there is a trendy kitchen and wet room. Views across the Tamar to Dartmoor on one side make up for the busy road outside. Cost: £349,900.
Bradleys, 01752 845488 Photograph: Bradleys/Bradleys

Take three: homes with funky facades. This site in London, N1, was once a wallpaper factory - to mark this, the outside of the building is covered in floral blooms. Inside, the walls and fittings are reassuringly neutral. You get a choice of a two-, three- or four-bed flat, with bath/shower room, an open-plan kitchen/living area, and balcony. There’s also a courtyard and secure parking. But you do have to buy off-plan. Yours from £585,000.
Hamptons International, 020 7226 4688 Photograph: Hamptons International/Hamptons International

Take three: homes with funky facades. An audacity of glass and stone in four Cotswold acres near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. For £1.75m you get an open-plan living room/kitchen, a dining hall, utility room, study, cinema room, cloakroom, four beds, a dressing room, garage and stables. The glass walls of the 61ft living room open on to the garden, there’s a 64ft glass balcony, and a stone staircase floats above the oval reception hall.
Knight Frank, 01242 246959 Photograph: Knight Frank/Knight Frank