Snooping around - in pictures

In town: Shropshire. The grandeur of the original 18th-century house in Shrewsbury lives on in the reception room, while the 21st century has polished this two-bed duplex with porcelain floor tiles and a designer kitchen and bathroom. It’s a shame a slender terrace is the only outside space. Cost: £265,000.
Strutt & Parker Photograph: Strutt & Parker

In the country: Isle of Arran. This £250,000 house looks out over the sea from its perch in Corrie, with a mountain backdrop and a garden containing a cave, a waterfall and a Norwegian chalet. The décor, however, is in a 1970s time warp.
Strutt & Parker
Photograph: Strutt & Parker

Wreck of the week: Newcastle upon Tyne. About £70,000 should haul this five-bed Victorian end-of-terrace in Spital Tongues into the new millennium. It’s currently very dated, but if you take the plunge you could extend – subject to planning – on the side plot. The garden, on a 99-year lease from the council, is overlooked from the road. Cost: £320,000.
Sanderson Young
Photograph: Sanderson Young

Dream home: Hampshire. It’s just two miles to the M3 and nine to Basingstoke, but as you sit in your landscaped gardens the hustle and bustle of the modern world will seem a long way away. Grade II-listed Poland Mill can trace its origins back to the 15th century and is believed to have been owned by an Earl in the 18th century. It still looks the part, with a sweeping driveway, beamed kitchen, elegant reception rooms and five bedroom suites. The 13 acres of grounds includes paddocks, a tennis court and 800ft of fishing on the river Whitewater. It’s yours for an Earl-y £2.1 m.
Hamptons International, 01252 360590 Photograph: Hamptons International,