Snooping around – in pictures

In town: East Sussex. It’s by Battle abbey, overlooks the green and has two characterful receptions, a study, a conservatory/breakfast room, three bedrooms and 75ft of garden, all for about £400,000. It’s a shame you have to rent a parking space.
Batcheller Monkhouse
Photograph: Picasa/Batcheller Monkhouse

In the country: Devon. This old fisherman’s cottage overlooks a creek with views up a wooded estuary in Newton Ferrers, near Plymouth. A recent refurb offsets the beams and inglenook, and the price – £325,000 – reflects the location, not the size: it’s only two bedrooms and the garden is a courtyard.
Marchand Petit
Photograph: Marchand Petit

Wreck of the week: Wiltshire. There’s a damp problem in this five-bed, five-reception villa in Salisbury, and the roof, wiring, plumbing and decor all need work. Outside, the garden leads down to the river. Yours for £540,000, this has the potential to be a grand residence near the city centre, but suffers from a lack of private parking.
Myddleton & Major, 01722 337575
Photograph: Myddleton & Major

Dream home: Dorset. This former Methodist Chapel could restore your faith in rural properties. A light and spacious house dating from 1890, which has been sympathetically modernised to include original features such as the chapel porch in the kitchen, it sits in two acres of land with its own outbuildings. The location means all the bedrooms have views of open fields of the Blackmore Vale. Despite this it’s within easy reach of the village of Fontmell Magna, with its own primary school and post office, and not far from larger towns such as Shaftesbury and Blandford, which provide a wide variety of shops and well renowned schools. Cost: £650,000.
Chesterton Humberts, 01258 452343
Photograph: Chesterton Humberts